Heroes  of  the  Nations. 


PER  VOUJME,  CLOTH,  5-T.      ROXBURGH,  6s. 

1. — Nelson.    By  W.  CLARK  RUSSELL. 
II. — Gustavus  Adolphus.     By  C.  R.  L.  FLETCHER,  M.A. 
III. — Pericles.     By  EVELYN  ABBOTT,  M.A. 
IV. — Theodoric  the  Goth.     By  THOMAS  HODGKIN. 
V.— Sir  Philip  Sidney.     By  H.  R.  FOX-BOURNE. 
VI. — Julius  Caesar.    By  W.  WARDE  FOWLER,  M.A. 
VII. — Wyclif.    By  LEWIS  SERGEANT. 
VIII. — Napoleon.     By  WILLIAM  O'CONNOR  MORRIS. 
IX.— Henry  of  Navarre.     By  P.  F.  WILLERT. 
X. — Cicero.    By  J.  L.  STRACHAN-DAVIDSON,  M.A. 
XI. — Abraham  Lincoln.     By  NOAH  BROOKS. 
XII. — Prince  Henry.     By  C.  R.  BEAZLEY. 
XIII. — Julian  the  Philosopher.     By  ALICE  GARDNER. 
XIV.— Louis  XIV.    By  ARTHUR  HASSALL,  M.A. 
XV.— Charles  XII.     By  R.  NISBET  BAIN. 
XVI. — Lorenzo  de'  Medici.     By  EDWARD  ARMSTRONG. 
XVII. — Jeanne  d'Arc.     By  Mrs.  OLIPHANT. 
XVIII. — Christopher  Columbus.     By  WASHINGTON  IRVING. 
XIX.— Robert  the  Bruce.     By  SIR  HERBERT  MAXWELL,  M.P. 
XX. — Hannibal.     By  WILLIAM  O'CONNOR  MORRIS. 
XXI.— U.  S.  Grant.     By  W.  CONANT  CHURCH. 
XXII.— Robert  E.  Lee.     By  HENRY  A.  WHITE. 
XXIII. — The  Cid  Campeador.    By  H.  BUTLER  CLARKE. 
XXIV. — Saladin.    By  STANLEY  LANE-POOLE. 
XXV.— Bismarck.    By  J.  W.  HEADLAM,  M.A. 
XXVI. — Alexander  the  Great. — By  BENJAMIN  I.  WHEELER. 
XXVII.— Charlemagne.     By  H.  W.  C.  DAVIS. 
XXVIII.— Oliver  Cromwell.     By  CHARLES  FIRTH. 
XXIX. — Richelieu.     By  JAMES  B.  PERKINS. 
XXX.— Daniel  O'Connell.     By  ROBERT  DUNLOP. 
XXXI.— Saint  Louis.     By  FREDERICK  PERRY. 
XXXII.— Lord  Chatham.     By  WALFORD  DAVIS  GREEN. 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS,  NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 


tberoes  of  tbe  IRations 

EDITED    BY 

Evelyn  Bbbott,  flD.B. 

FELLOW    OF     BALL1OL  COLLEGE,    OXFORD 


FACTA  DUCI8  VIVENT,  OPEROSAQUE 
GLORIA  RERUM.  —  OVID,   IN  LIVIAM    265. 
THE  HERO'S  DEEDS  AND  HARD-WON 
FAME  SHALL  LIVE. 


RICHELIEU 


CARDINAL   RICHELIEU. 


RICHELIEU 


AND  THE  GROWTH  OF  FRENCH  POWER 


BY 


JAMES  BRECK  PERKINS,  LL.D. 

AUTHOR  OF  "  FRANCE  UNDER  MAZAR1N,"  "FRANCE  UNDER  THE  REGENCY," 

"FRANCE  UNDER  LOUIS  xv." 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

NEW  YORK  LONDON 

27   WEST  TWENTY-THIRD   STREET  24   BEDFORD   STREET,  STRAND 

<£hc  luiichciboclur  jprcss 
1900 


COPYRIGHT,  1900 

BY 
JAMES  BRECK  PERKINS 


TTbe  Ytnichcrbocftcr  press,  Hew 


CO 
CT> 


PREFACE 

THE  plan   of  the  series  to  which  this  Life  of 
Richelieu  belongs  does  not  allow  any  refer- 
ence to  authorities.     The  present  work,  how- 
ever,   is   based    upon    an   examination    of   original 
sources  of  information,  and  every  effort  has  been 
made   to   secure  accuracy,   alike  in  the  details  of 
Richelieu's  life  and  as  to  the  nature  and  results  of 
his  administration. 

The  materials  for  a  study  of  Richelieu's  career 
are  numerous  and  reasonably  complete.  His  corre- 
spondence has  been  published,  and  is  of  the  highest 
value.  In  addition  to  this,  Richelieu's  own  mtmoires 
are  of  great  importance.  They  are,  indeed,  his  own 
statements,  and  must  often  be  corrected  by  refer- 
ences to  his  letters  and  other  documents,  but  they 
furnish  an  account  of  his  career  which  is  for  the 
most  part  accurate  and  complete. 

I  have  also  examined  the  MSS.  which  can  be 
found  in  the  Affaires  Etrangtres  at  Paris  and  in  the 
other  public  offices.  So  careful,  however,  has  been 
the  study  of  everything  bearing  on  Richelieu's  career 
that  not  a  great  deal  of  importance  now  remains 
unpublished. 


R  316418 


iv  Preface 

Contemporary  memoirs  are  numerous.  These 
vary  largely  in  accuracy  and  importance,  but  all  are 
of  value  as  giving  different  phases  of  contemporary 
opinion,  even  when  they  are  not  altogether  trust- 
worthy in  their  statements  of  occurrences.  The 
mtmoires  of  Bassompierre,  Pontis,  Fontrailles,  Tu- 
renne,  Gaston,  Mol£,  Montresor,  Montglat ;  the 
Correspondance  de  Sourdis,  Epistolce  Grotii,  Mercure 
Francois,  Dispacci  Veneziani,  and  Archives  Curieuses 
are  some  of  the  records  that  can  be  consulted  with 
profit. 

The  literature  in  reference  to  Richelieu  is  also 
very  voluminous.  The  great  work  of  M.  Hanotaux, 
when  complete,  will  contain  the  most  valuable  ac- 
count of  Richelieu's  life  that  has  appeared.  With 
such  diligence  and  ability  has  M.  Hanotaux  studied 
his  subject  that  his  work  will  remain,  I  think,  the 
permanent  record  of  the  career  of  the  great  Cardinal. 
This  Life  of  Richelieu,  when  finished,  will  comprise 
four  large  volumes,  and  its  size  will  perhaps  deter 
the  ordinary  reader,  but  it  is  none  too  full  for  any- 
one who  wishes  to  familiarise  himself  with  French 
history  during  the  important  period  covered  by 
Richelieu's  administration. 

A  work  of  much  value  in  reference  to  the  details 
of  government  is  Richelieu  et  la  Monarchic  Absolue, 
by  the  Viscount  G.  d'Avenel.  His  familiarity  with 
the  conditions  of  the  time,  both  social  and  political, 
is  based  upon  an  exhaustive  study  of  original  docu- 
ments. One  may  perhaps  disagree  with  some  of 
the  results  he  reaches,  but  his  researches  are  a  mine 
of  information. 


Preface  v 

In  my  History  of  France  under  Mazarin  I  gave  a 
review  of  Richelieu's  administration.  In  writing 
this  Life  of  Richelieu  I  have  been  obliged  to  repeat 
in  substance  some  things  which  are  found  in  that 
work. 

JAMES  BRECK  PERKINS. 

ROCHESTER,  N.  Y.,  March,  1900. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

PACK 

FRANCE    AS   RICHELIEU    FOUND    IT    .  .  .  .1 

Character  of  Richelieu — Reign  of  Henry  IV. — Condition  of 
France — Poverty  of  the  People — Growth  of  Paris — Con- 
dition of  the  City — Bad  Roads — Chateaux — Power  of  the 
Nobility — Influence  of  France — Mary  de'  Medici. 

CHAPTER  II 

RICHELIEU'S  EARLY  CAREER,    1585-1617  .         .      17 

Family  of  Richelieu — Richelieu's  Father — Richelieu's  Birth 
— The  Family  Chateau — Troubled  Condition  of  the  Country 
— Richelieu's  Education — He  Becomes  a  Priest — Is  Made  a 
Bishop — Takes  his  Residence  at  Lu9on — Poverty  of  the 
Diocese — Richelieu's  Sermons — His  Theological  Writings — 
His  Desire  for  Office — Mary  de'  Medici — Her  Regency — 
States-General  Called — Richelieu  Elected  Delegate — He 
Speaks  for  the  Clergy — Close  of  the  States-General — The 
Concinis — Richelieu's  Activity  —  Overthrow  of  Conde  — 
Richelieu  Becomes  a  Minister — Criticisms  on  his  Appoint- 
ment— His  Views  on  Foreign  Policy — His  Energetic  Con- 
duct— Luines — Murder  of  Concini — Disgrace  of  Richelieu 
— Trial  of  Concini's  Wife — Retirement  of  Mary  de'  Medici. 

CHAPTER  III 

THE    YEARS    OF    DISGRACE,     1617-1624         .  „  .       6l 

Richelieu  Little  Known — Chief  of  the  Queen's  Council — 

vii 


viii  Contents 

PAGE 

Retires  to  his  Bishopric — Banished  to  Avignon — Recalled 
by  the  King — His  Relations  with  the  Queen-mother — Nom- 
inated as  Cardinal — Death  of  Luines — Richelieu  Becomes 
Cardinal — Recalled  to  Office — His  Relations  with  the  King. 

CHAPTER  IV 

OVERTHROW  OF  THE  HUGUENOT  PARTY,  1624-1629  .  79 
Plans  of  Richelieu — Makes  War  in  the  Valtelline — Growth 
of  the  Huguenot  Party — The  Edict  of  Nantes — Unruly  Con- 
duct of  the  Huguenots — Treaty  Made  with  them  by  Riche- 
lieu— Relations  with  England — Conduct  of  Buckingham — 
War  with  England — Repulse  of  Buckingham — I. a  Rochelle 
— Siege  of  La  Rochelle — Repulse  of  the  English — Surrender 
of  La  Rochelle — War  in  Italy — Overthrow  of  the  Huguenot 
Party — Endeavours  at  Conversion — Richelieu's  Treatment  of 
the  Huguenots. 

CHAPTER  V 

RICHELIEU    AND    HIS   ENEMIES,    1626-1637  .  .Ill 

Richelieu's  Triumphant  Progress — His  Advice  to  the  King 
— His  Enemies — His  Treatment  of  them — Attempt  to  Mur- 
der him — The  King's  Illness  at  Lyons — Day  of  the  Dupes 
— Banishment  of  Marillac — Queen-mother  Leaves  France — 
Richelieu's  Conduct  toward  her — Her  Death — Insurrection 
Led  by  Gaston — Defeat  of  the  Insurgents — The  Duke  of 
Montmorenci — His  Execution — The  King's  Dislike  of  his 
Wife — Mile,  de  Hautefort — The  King's  Fondness  for  her — 
Mile,  de  La  Fayette — She  Retires  to  a  Convent — Intrigues 
of  the  King's  Confessor. 

CHAPTER  VI 

THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    RICHELIEU,    1624-1642       .     142 

Richelieu  Attends  to  all  Branches  of  Government — Assem- 
blies of  Notables — Destruction  of  Fortresses — Evils  of  Tax- 
ation —  Corruption  in  Office  —  Proceedings  against  the 
Farmers  of  Taxes — Code  of  Michau — Richelieu's  Policy  in 
Italy — Mazarin  —  Relations  with  Lorraine  —  The  French 
Take  Possession  of  the  Province. 


Contents  ix 

CHAPTFR  VII 

PAGE 

THE    THIRTY    YEARS*    WAR,     1618-1648       .  .  .     157 

Beginning  of  the  War — Ferdinand's  Success — Dismissal  of 
Wallenstein — Gustavus  Invades  Germany — Battle  of  Brei- 
tenfeld — Wallenstein  Recalled — Death  of  Gustavus — Mur- 
der of  Wallenstein — The  Clergy  Employed  as  Officers — 
Condition  of  the  Army — Employment  of  Mercenaries — Bad 
Condition  of  Roads — Size  of  the  Army — Invasion  of  France 
— Conduct  of  Richelieu — Death  of  Ferdinand  II. — Portu- 
gal Regains  Independence — Revolt  of  Catalonia — Success  of 
the  French — War  in  the  Low  Countries — Negotiations  for 
Peace. 

CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  CLOSE  OF  RICHELIEU'S  CAREER,  1638-1642  .  185 
Richelieu's  Activity — His  Instructions  to  the  Army — Bad 
Condition  of  Finances — Local  Insurrections — Insurrection 
in  Normandy — Insurrection  of  the  Count  of  Soissons — Fa- 
vour of  Mile,  de  Hautefort — Cinq-Mars — His  Quarrels  with 
the  King — His  Hostility  to  Richelieu — Treaty  Made  with 
Spain — Illness  of  Richelieu — Plots  to  Murder  Richelieu — 
Treaty  with  Spain  Discovered — Arrest  of  Cinq-Mars — Con- 
duct of  Gaston — Trial  of  Cinq-Mars — His  Execution — Sur- 
render of  Sedan — Richelieu's  Return  to  Paris — His  Constant 
Industry — Success  at  the  Close  of  his  Career — His  Final 
Illness— His  Death— His  Burial— His  Will— Value  of  his 
Estate — Large  Estates  Accumulated  by  Men  in  Power. 

CHAPTER  IX 

INTERNAL    ADMINISTRATION,    1624-1642  .  .    225 

Growth  of  the  Navy — Organisation  of  Commercial  Com- 
panies— Defects  in  French  Colonisation — Slavery — Use  of 
Tobacco — Treaty  with  Russia — Condition  of  the  People — 
Paternal  Theory  of  Government — Condition  of  the  Army — 
Number  of  Mercenaries — Pay  of  the  Soldiers — Condition  of 
the  Soldiers — Richelieu's  Opposition  to  Popular  Assemblies 
— Education  in  France — Superintendents — Centralisation  of 
Government  —  Newspapers  —  Government  Censure  —  Duel- 
ling— Carriage  of  the  Mails — Cost  of  Transportation. 


x  Contents 

CHAPTER  X 

PACK 

RICHELIEU'S  RELATIONS  WITH  THE  CHURCH    .         .  259 

His  Treatment  of  the  Huguenots — His  Religious  Belief — 
Superstition  of  the  Time — Dedication  of  France  to  the 
Virgin — Belief  in  Witchcraft — The  Case  of  Urbain  Grandier 
— Richelieu's  Belief  in  Magic — Number  of  Livings  Held  by 
him — Improvement  in  the  Monasteries — Richelieu's  Desire 
to  be  Archbishop  of  Treves — The  Pope  Forbids  this — Sug- 
gestions of  a  Patriarchate — Endeavours  to  Tax  the  Clergy — 
The  Abbe  of  St.  Cyran — He  is  Imprisoned  by  Richelieu — 
Richelieu  Sells  his  Bishopric — Father  Joseph — Organises  a 
Convent — Plans  a  Crusade — Attends  the  Diet  at  Ratisbon — 
His  Relations  with  Richelieu — Pope  Refuses  to  Make  him  a 
Cardinal— Ills  Death. 

CHAPTER  XI 

LIFE    AT    THE    PALAIS    CARDINAL          .  .  .  .     297 

Richelieu's  Taste  for  Building — The  Hotel  Rambouillet — 
Site  of  the  Palais  Cardinal — Other  Buildings — Life  at  the  Pal- 
ais Cardinal — Richelieu's  Treatment  of  his  Servants — Ballets 
Represented  at  his  Palace — His  Taste  for  Literature — The 
Five  Poets — Organisation  of  the  Academy — Opposition  of 
the  Parliament — Balzac  and  Voiture — Influence  of  Richelieu 
— His  Encouragement  of  Literature — Marriage  of  his  Niece 
with  the  Duke  of  Enghien — His  Quarrels  with  Enghien — 
Richelieu's  Brothers — Mme.  d'Aiguillon — Extravagance  of 
Richelieu's  Nephew — The  Cardinal's  Family. 

CHAPTER  XII 

THE    RESULTS   OF    RICHELIEU'S    ADMINISTRATION         .    329 

Character  of  Richelieu — His  Influence  on  the  Administra- 
tive System  of  France — His  Contempt  for  Popular  Opinion 
— Theory  of  Absolute  Monarchy — Permanence  of  his  Work 
—  His  Influence  on  the  Administration  of  Justice — His  For- 
eign Policy — Fjench  Acquisitions — Country  Unprosperous 
under  Richelieu, 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

Frontispiece 


CARDINAL  RICHELIEU 


BIRD'S-EYE  VIEW  OF  PARIS,  EARLY  IN  lyrn  CEN- 

TURY.     LA  CIT£  AND  THE  SOUTH  SIDE  OF  THE 
SEINE,  LOOKING  SOUTHEAST  UP  THE  RIVER          . 
[From  an  old  map,  British  Museum.] 

THE    OLD    LOUVRE     ....... 

[From  an  old  print.] 

FRANCOIS  DU  PLESSIS,  SEIGNEUR  DE  RICHELIEU,  THE 
FATHER  OF  THE  CARDINAL 

[From  a  drawing  in  the  National  Library,  Paris. 
Reproduced  from  Hanotaux's  Histoire  du  Car- 
dinal de  Richelieu,} 

THE     CHATEAUX     OF     RICHELIEU     BEFORE     ITS    RE- 

BUILDING BY  THE  CARDINAL      .... 

[From   an    old   print   in   the   National    Library, 

Paris.     Reproduced   from   Hanotaux's  Histoire 

du  Cardinal  dt  Richelieu.  \ 

DUCHY  OF  RICHELIEU         ...... 

[From  Hanotaux's  Histoire  du  Cardinal  dt  Riche- 
lieu.} 

THE  SORBONNE  (INTERIOR  OF  THE  COURT)         .  . 

[From  a  steel  engraving.] 


12 


2O 


22 


26 


30 


xii  Illustrations. 


MARY  DE*  MEDICI 36 

[From   the  painting  by  F.   Porbus  in  the  Prado 
Museum  in  Madrid.] 

CONCINO  CONCINI,  MARQUIS  D*ANCRE,  MARSHAL   OF 

FRANCE 44 

[From  a  painting  by  Lecocq.] 

LEONORA  DORI,  WIFE  OF    CONCINI    ....          58 

DUKE  OF  LUINES,  CONSTABLE  OF  FRANCE  .  .          70 

[From  a  painting  by  Robert  Fleury.] 

RICHELIEU  IN  CARDINAL'S  HAT          ....          72 
[From  the  portrait  by  Michel  Lasne.     Reproduced 
from  Hanotaux's  Histoiredu  Cardinal  de  Riche- 
lieu] 

LOUIS  XIII.      ........         76 

THE  CAPTURE  OF  LA  ROCHELLE        ....       IO2 
[From  an  engraving  by  Chavane,  from  Contempo- 
rary sources.] 

G ASTON,  DUKE  OF  ORLEANS     .  .  .  .  Il6 

[From  a  steel  engraving.] 

HENRY,      DUKE      OF      MONTMORENCI,      MARSHAL      OF 

FRANCE .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .        128 

[From  a  portrait  by  Baltazar  Moncornet.] 

ANNE  OF  AUSTRIA  .  .    .         .  .  .  .  .        132 

ALBERT  VON  WALLENSTEIN l6o 

[Duke  of  Friedland  and  Mecklenburg.] 

GUSTAVUS   ADOLPHUS  II.  .  .  .  .  162 

COUNT  VON  TILLY  .  ......       164 

PLAN    OF    THE   BATTLE    AT    LUTZEN,   NOVEMBER    l6, 

1632 166 

CINQ-MARS      ........       196 

[From  a  painting  by  Lenain.] 


Illustrations.  xiii 


PAGE 

DUKE  OF  BOUILLON  .  .  .  .  .  .       2IO 

[From  a  portrait  by  Baltazar  Moncornet.J 

HENRY    IV.          ..  .....       232 

[From  a  contemporary  painting  in  the  Museum  at 
Versailles.] 

FATHER  JOSEPH 284 

[From  an  engraving  by  Michel  Lasne.  Repro- 
duced from  Faginez's  Le  Pere  Joseph  et  Riche- 
lieu.] 

CARDINAL   MAZARIN 296 

CARDINAL  RICHELIEU  AND  HIS  CATS  .  .  .       304 

[From  an  old  print.] 

PIERRE   CORNEILLE 310 

[From  an  old  print.] 

PRINCE   OF   COND6    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  320 

MAP    OF    FRANCE        .......  352 


RICHELIEU 


CHAPTER  I 

FRANCE   AS   RICHELIEU    FOUND    IT 

NO  one  would  dispute  Cardinal  Richelieu's  right 
to  be  regarded  as  a  national  hero.     In  his 
lifetime  he  had  few  friends  and  many  ene- 
mies; his  rule  was  harsh,  it  was  not  attended  with 
general  prosperity,  and  it  was  marked  by  merciless 
severity.     Few  loved   him    and    few   regretted   his 
decease.     The  King  who  maintained  him  in  office 
regarded  him  with  ill-concealed  dislike,  the  people 
who  suffered  under  his  rule  felt  for  him  an  uncon- 
cealed hatred. 

Yet  the  French  people  now  esteem  the  Cardinal 
as  one  of  the  greatest  of  their  great  men ;  his  fame 
is  cherished  because  he  secured  for  France  glory 
and  power,  a  paramount  influence  in  European  poli- 
tics, the  foremost  place  among  European  nations. 
That  he  was  an  extraordinary  man  was  acknow- 
ledged in  his  own  day ;  and  now  it  is  seen  that  his 


2  Richelieu 

work  left  its  permanent  impress  on  French  gov- 
ernment and  French  history,  that  it  increased 
the  power  of  the  French  monarchy  and  secured 
for  it  a  position  in  Europe  which  it  had  not  before 
held. 

It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  the  French  people 
should  hold  in  respectful  if  not  in  affectionate  re- 
membrance a  man  who  helped  to  make  France  great. 
He  was  merciless  to  his  enemies,  but  they  are  for- 
gotten; he  did  not  secure  prosperity  for  the  people, 
but  the  traditions  of  past  distress  do  not  disturb 
posterity.  There  was  also  in  his  character  and 
career  much  that  was  striking  and  dramatic.  His 
personality  stands  out  in  the  pages  of  history,  it  has 
lent  itself  to  romance  and  the  drama;  the  figure  of 
the  Cardinal,  clad  in  the  red  robes  of  the  Church, 
inscrutable,  implacable,  inexorable,  is  familiar  even 
to  those  who  spend  little  time  in  studying  the 
records  of  the  past.  In  the  long  list  of  famous 
French  statesmen,  he  is  the  best  known. 

Before  attempting  to  relate  Richelieu's  career,  it 
may  be  well  to  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the  condition 
of  France  and  of  the  French  government  when  an 
obscure  bishop  obtained  a  position  in  the  royal 
council,  and  in  a  few  years  made  himself  the  actual 
ruler  of  the  kingdom. 

When  Armand  de  Richelieu  was  born,  the  king- 
dom of  France  was  governed  by  Henry  III.,  the 
last  of  the  Valois  kings.  The  country  was  still  in- 
volved in  the  wars  of  religion,  which  raged  during  a 
good  part  of  the  sixteenth  century.  In  1585,  the 
year  of  Richelieu's  birth,  Sixtus  V.  lent  a  helping 


France  as  Richelieu  Found  It 


hand  to  the  League  by  excommunicating  Henry  of 
Navarre,  and  declaring  that  son  of  perdition  incap- 
able of  inheriting  the  French  throne.  Four  years 
later,  Henry  III.  was  murdered,  and  Henry  IV.,  the 
first  of  the  Bourbon  line,  notwithstanding  the  papal 
fulminations,  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  France. 
He  was  successful  in  the  field  against  those  who  dis- 
puted his  title,  and  by  adopting  the  religious  pro- 
fession of  the  majority  of  his  subjects,  he  secured 
the  peaceful  submission  of  the  entire  country.  In 
1597,  by  the  famous  Edict  of  Nantes,  he  granted 
religious  toleration  to  the  minority,  whose  belief  he 
had  formerly  professed,  and  the  wars  of  religion 
were  brought  to  an  end. 

The  administration  of  Henry  IV.  was  conducted 
with  wisdom  and  was  accompanied  by  prosperity ; 
France  was  influential  abroad  and  her  people  were 
prosperous  at  home.  It  was  a  period  of  rapid 
growth  in  wealth,  attended  by  an  increase  in  gen- 
eral well-being.  Henry  was  sincere  in  saying  that 
he  wished  every  French  peasant  might  have  a  fowl 
in  his  pot,  and  he  did  much  to  secure  the  fulfilment 
of  his  desire.  But  in  1610  the  King  fell  a  victim  to 
an  assassin's  knife,  and  France  was  for  some  years 
ruled  by  his  widow,  an  Italian  princess  of  the  famous 
House  of  the  Medici. 

The  boundaries  of  France  then  contained  about 
four-fifths  of  the  territory  which  they  now  comprise, 
even  after  the  disasters  of  1870.  In  the  south, 
Roussillon  was  still  Spanish,  Savoy  and  Nice  were 
Italian,  Alsace  and  Lorraine  formed  part  of  the 
German  Empire;  Franche  -  Comte,  Artois,  and 


4  Richelieu 

Flanders,  at  the  east  and  north,  recognised  the  au- 
thority of  the  King  of  Spain. 

This  territory  was  more  sparsely  peopled  than  it 
is  to-day.  The  population  of  France  was  estimated 
at  sixteen  millions,  and  it  did  not  exceed  that  num- 
ber. Since  then  it  has  more  than  doubled,  though 
when  compared  with  other  European  nations  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  the  country  seemed  very  popu- 
lous, and  travellers  were  impressed  by  the  number 
of  its  people.  Yet  great  sections  that  are  now  fertile 
land  were  then  the  home  of  wild  beasts,  or  tenanted 
by  a  few  scattering  and  half-barbarous  occupants; 
much  of  the  forest  by  which  Gaul  was  originally 
covered  had  been  cleared  away,  but  thousands  and 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres  were  still  timber 
land.  Game  of  many  kinds  abounded,  not  only 
birds  and  small  game,  but  deer,  wolf,  and  bear.  In 
the  Forest  of  Ardennes,  in  the  defiles  of  Auvergne, 
the  hunter  could  find  great  sections  of  land  as  nature 
left  them,  in  which  wild  beasts  were  more  abundant 
than  they  now  are  in  any  part  of  the  United  States. 

It  was  not  only  the  primeval  forest,  but  the 
primeval  swamp  that  checked  cultivation.  Vast 
expanses  of  low,  wet  land  were  still  undrained; 
rivers  and  streams  overflowed,  carrying  destruction 
along  their  shores;  the  conquest  of  the  soil  by  man 
was  still  far  from  complete. 

The  condition  of  the  people  varied  greatly  in 
different  sections :  while  in  some  provinces  a  reason- 
able prosperity  was  found,  in  others  extreme  poverty 
was  widespread.  The  peasant's  home  was  usually 
a  mere  hut,  built  of  mud  and  often  without  windows 


France  as  Richelieu  Foimd  It 


or  chimney.  In  it  he  and  his  half-naked  children 
lived,  often  as  joint  tenants  with  the  family  chickens, 
and  the  family  hog  or  cow  if  he  was  so  fortunate  as 
to  possess  one.  The  clothing  of  the  people  was 
rough,  and  their  homes  were  filthy.  Meat  was 
rarely  eaten,  wheat  bread  was  a  luxury ;  black  bread, 
chestnuts,  and  a  few  vegetables  were  the  staples  of 
life. 

A  higher  degree  of  comfort  was  found  in  some 
districts,  where  decent  houses  and  sufficient,  though 
simple,  fare  were  the  lot  of  most,  but  the  great  body 
of  the  peasantry  lived  in  such  poverty  as  is  now 
rarely  found  in  civilised  lands.  Ignorance  was  al- 
most universal  among  them ;  there  were  few  who 
could  read  or  write.  Unless  a  man  went  to  the 
wars,  his  days  were  spent  within  a  radius  of  a  few 
miles,  with  no  knowledge  of  the  outside  world  and 
no  interest  in  it,  occupied  only  with  the  sordid 
problem  of  getting  enough  bread  to  avoid  starvation 
and  enough  money  to  pay  the  tax-gatherer.  The 
only  spiritual  nourishment  was  furnished  by  the 
parish  priest,  usually  a  peasant  by  birth,  and  distin- 
guished from  his  flock  by  little  except  the  ability  to 
read  and  write,  by  familiarity  with  his  breviary,  and 
by  a  smattering  knowledge  of  Latin.  Religious 
sentiment  thus  taught  might  be  sincere,  but  it  was 
not  often  enlightened. 

The  condition  of  those  living  in  the  towns  differed 
considerably  from  that  of  the  peasants,  and  was,  on 
the  whole,  much  better.  In  our  great  cities  are  now 
found  the  extremes  of  vice  and  misery,  while  actual 
need  and  hunger  are  infrequent  among  the  tillers  of 


6  Richelieu 

the  soil.  There  was  enough  of  misery  and  vice  in 
French  cities  then,  but  the  state  of  the  citizen  was 
better  than  that  of  the  countryman..  The  undue 
burden  of  taxation  was  perhaps  the  worst  feature  in 
the  peasant's  lot,  and  in  this  respect  the  people  of 
the  towns  fared  better. 

If  the  dwellers  in  towns  escaped  the  tax-gatherer 
more  easily  than  their  descendants,  they  had,  on  the 
other  hand,  few  of  the  advantages  that  render  modern 
cities  costly,  but  also  make  them  healthful  and  at- 
tractive. The  material  condition  of  most  French 
cities  can  well  be  illustrated  by  that  of  the  capital. 
Paris  had  then  a  population  of  half  a  million ;  many 
places  of  secondary  importance  now  possess  more 
inhabitants,  but,  at  that  period,  the  multitude  of 
persons  gathered  in  this  one  place  was  regarded  as 
almost  appalling.  By  edict  after  edict,  it  was  sought 
to  check  the  steady  growth  of  the  metropolis,  but  it 
was  no  more  possible  to  stop  the  growth  of  the  city 
than  the  rising  of  the  tide.  "  Our  predecessors," 
said  Louis  XIII.,  in  an  edict  of  1627,  "  seeing  that 
the  growth  of  our  good  city  of  Paris  was  in  a  high 
degree  injurious,  have  forbidden  building  in  the 
faubourgs,  and  we  have  repeated  these  commands." 
Then  follow  the  statement  that  such  orders  were 
unheeded,  and  a  new  prohibition  of  any  further 
building  in  the  capital,  except  to  replace  old  with 
new.  Even  the  local  authorities  were  disturbed, 
and  declared  that  the  growth  of  population  would 
create  many  evils,  and  among  other  things  would 
render  it  impossible  to  remove  the  filth,  or  to  ferret 
out  criminals. 


France  as  Richelieu  Found  It 


Yet  Paris  bore  little  likeness  to  the  great  capital 
of  our  time.  It  was  still  mediaeval,  and  in  many 
respects  more  resembled  the  cities  of  the  Orient 
than  a  modern  town.  The  streets  crossed  and 
diverged  in  hopeless  confusion,  as  they  had  been 
laid  out  by  chance  or  caprice.  Sidewalks  and  curb- 
ings  were  unknown,  sewers  and  improved  roadways 
were  rare;  in  filth,  in  lack  of  sanitary  provisions, 
Paris  was  almost  as  bad  as  Aleppo  or  Constantinople, 
and  its  stenches  were  famous  throughout  Europe. 
"  Many  of  the  streets,"  wrote  a  traveller,  "  are  the 
filthiest  and  the  most  malodorous  that  I  have  seen 
in  any  country." 

Bad  as  was  the  sanitary  condition  of  Paris,  that 
of  smaller  places  was  little  better.  In  one  town,  we 
find  the  officials  ordering  that  the  bodies  of  animals 
which  had  died  of  disease  should  not  be  left  in  the 
streets.  "  It  would  be  better  to  throw  them  into 
the  river,"  said  the  vigilant  authorities.  In  this 
town,  as  in  almost  all  cities,  the  river  furnished 
the  inhabitants  with  their  drinking-water;  it  is  not 
strange  that  the  death-rate  was  higher  than  it  is  now. 

The  highways  of  Paris  were  in  a  condition  that 
seems  almost  incredible  in  a  great  capital.  Riche- 
lieu's carriage  plunged  in  so  deep  a  mudhole  in  the 
Faubourg  St.  Antoine,  in  the  very  heart  of  the  city, 
that  it  was  tipped  over,  and  the  Cardinal,  admon- 
ished by  this  accident,  after  much  difficulty  raised 
money  for  the  repair  of  the  road.  Money  was  not 
freely  granted  for  such  purposes.  In  1637,  the 
amount  spent  on  the  highways  of  Paris  was  about 
one-sixtieth  of  the  sum  now  annually  expended. 


8  Richelieu 

In  this  intricate  maze  of  dark,  narrow,  and  dirty 
streets  thronged  a  dense  population,  among  whom 
flourished  a  liberal  proportion  of  thieves,  murderers, 
and  criminals  of  every  class,  undisturbed  by  any 
pretence  of  an  effective  police,  and  free  to  act  in 
localities  that  at  night  were  unlighted  save  by  the 
lamps  the  wayfarer  carried.  No  one  was  allowed 
to  walk  in  the  streets  of  Paris  after  nine  o'clock 
without  carrying  a  lantern,  in  order,  said  the  edict, 
to  prevent  the  infinite  number  of  robberies  com- 
mitted on  those  who  venture  out  at  night.  The 
cost  of  lighting  Paris  under  Louis  XIII.  was  no- 
thing, but  if  the  purses  of  the  burghers  were  spared 
by  the  tax-gatherer,  they  were  often  taken  by  the 
thieves  who  frequented  the  city  and  carried  on  their 
trade  with  comparative  impunity. 

Only  a  small  part  of  the  population  had  any  in- 
struction from  books,  but  life  in  a  great  city  is  in 
itself  an  education.  The  Parisians  were  far  removed 
from  the  brutish  stupidity  of  the  peasants,  or  the 
dull  self-satisfaction  of  the  inhabitants  of  provincial 
towns.  Even  in  those  days  a  French  ruler  could  not 
disregard  the  wishes  or  the  caprices  of  the  capital. 

If  the  Parisians  were  not  all  moral,  they  were  very 
religious.  Paris  is  now  the  headquarters  of  those 
who  would  fain  do  away  with  all  trace  of  religious 
belief,  but  in  the  days  of  Richelieu  it  was  Catholic 
to  the  core;  the  League  there  found  its  steadiest 
supporters;  Henry  IV.  attended  mass  that  he  might 
possess  in  peace  his  good  city  of  Paris.  If  some 
Protestant  traveller  forgot  to  kneel  as  the  Holy 
Sacrament  passed  through  the  streets,  he  was 


France  as  Richelieu  Found  It 


fortunate  to  escape  with  his  life.  A  century  later 
Paris  had  become  liberal,  and  in  another  century  it 
had  become  sceptical,  but,  under  Richelieu,  its 
people  were  still  animated  by  an  intense  religious 
belief;  they  abhorred  heresy  and  disliked  toleration. 

The  number  of  clergy  at  Paris,  priests,  monks, 
and  friars,  was  very  great,  and  the  city  was  girdled 
about  by  vast  tracts  of  land  owned  by  the  various 
religious  orders,  whose  names  are  still  preserved  in 
the  faubourgs  of  the  modern  town.  The  streets 
swarmed  with  persons  arrayed  in  religious  dress, 
white,  black,  grey,  and  brown;  their  number  was  so 
great  as  to  excite  the  attention  of  all  travellers. 
Where  the  clergy  were  so  numerous,  religious  build- 
ings multiplied  ;  convents  for  the  monks  and  churches 
for  the  laity  abounded  in  every  quarter,  and  their 
bells  and  chimes  resounded  at  all  hours,  creating,  as 
has  been  said,  an  almost  unbroken  roar  of  pious 
thunder. 

The  difference  between  the  inhabitants  of  the 
capital  and  the  provinces  has  been  an  important 
factor  in  French  history,  but  at  this  epoch  the  dis- 
tinctions between  the  denizens  of  different  parts  of 
France  were  far  greater  than  they  are  now.  It  was 
not  strange  that  the  inhabitants  of  remote  provinces 
should  differ  in  speech,  dress,  and  modes  of  life,  for 
communication  between  them  was  attended  by  diffi- 
culty and  danger.  Henry  IV.  recognised  the  im- 
portance of  good  roads  in  national  development,  and 
gave  to  their  improvement  more  attention  than  any 
one  of  his  predecessors.  Yet  it  was  but  a  begin- 
ning, and  the  work  was  checked  at  his  death.  On 


I  o  Richelieu 

many  so-called  highways,  travel  by  waggon  was  im- 
possible;  in  many  seasons  of  the  year,  it  was  almost 
impracticable  even  for  the  pedestrian  or  the  horse- 
man. Innumerable  are  the  accounts  of  the  perils  of 
travellers.  In  approaching  the  important  city  of 
Lyons  by  the  main  highway,  a  German  traveller 
tells  us,  he  found  the  road  so  washed  by  rain  that 
his  horse  fell  into  a  marsh,  and  the  party  advanced 
on  foot  in  great  peril  of  drowning.  Such  adventures 
were  constantly  encountered,  and  to  the  difficulty 
and  danger  of  travel  in  bad  weather  were  added 
perils  from  highwaymen.  Even  in  the  cities  the 
police  was  imperfect,  and  a  prudent  man  traversed 
the  street  at  night  with  great  apprehension  for  his 
purse,  and  some  apprehension  for  his  life.  In  the 
country,  ruffians  and  thieves  practised  their  arts  with 
still  less  fear  of  the  constabulary.  Travellers  went 
in  parties  and  armed,  well  pleased  if  they  reached 
their  journey's  end  without  having  to  exchange 
shots  with  highwaymen. 

There  was  comparatively  little  travel.  A  peasant 
would  pass  his  life,  hardly  going  beyond  the  con- 
fines of  his  native  parish.  Many,  whose  means  were 
larger,  wandered  no  farther  from  home.  A  few 
nobles  perfected  their  education  by  travel  in  other 
lands,  but  the  prosperous  bourgeois  saw  no  reason 
why  he  should  waste  his  money  and  lessen  his  com- 
fort by  leaving  his  home.  To  the  average  Parisian 
shopkeeper,  an  excursion  to  St.  Cloud  was  not  a 
light  affair,  a  trip  to  Fontainebleau  was  a  grave  and 
serious  undertaking. 

When  the   intercourse  between  remote   sections 


France  as  Richelieu  Found  It  1 1 

was  slight,  and  newspapers  were  practically  un- 
known, the  life  of  any  locality  was  isolated,  and  the 
political  effect  of  this  was  considerable.  The  in- 
fluence of  Paris  was  less  than  it  has  since  become, 
because  it  was  not  so  closely  connected  with  the  rest 
of  France :  there  were,  so  to  speak,  no  channels  by 
which  impulses  from  the  capital  could  reach  the 
provinces;  the  country  was  like  an  animal  of  low 
organisation, — no  nervous  centre  was  closely  con- 
nected with  other  parts  of  the  system. 

Over  all  the  land,  numerous  chateaux  were  scat- 
tered. '  In  France  there  are  too  many  chateaux," 
said  an  ancient  proverb,  showing  the  deep-seated 
dislike  to  a  powerful  nobility  that  was  still  fresh  at 
the  era  of  the  French  Revolution.  For  the  most 
part,  these  residences  belonged  to  a  feudal  epoch, 
and  were  built  for  the  purpose  of  defence  ;  there  was 
generally  little  regard  for  comfort,  for  luxury,  for 
conveniences,  which  are  now  thought  indispensable. 
The  walls  were  heavy  and  could  defy  any  weapons 
of  offence  until  cannon  came  into  use;  moat  and 
bridge,  turret  and  portcullis,  marked  the  fortress, 
and  within  were  provisions  for  the  numerous  men- 
at-arms  that  the  lord  might  require  to  defend  his 
home  against  his  enemy.  To  the  ancient  portholes, 
intended  for  archers,  were  added  new  openings 
where  culverins  and  musketry  could  be  used ;  the 
arms  had  changed,  but  the  warlike  purpose  of  the 
fortress  was  unaltered. 

With  the  growth  of  monarchical  authority  in- 
ternal disorder  lessened,  there  was  less  need  of  forti- 
fications, and  the  influence  exercised  by  Italian  art 


1 2  Richelieu 

and  taste  began  also  to  show  itself  in  the  homes  of 
the  nobility.  By  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  some  of  the  mediaeval  ruggedness  was  done 
away  with,  gardens  were  embellished,  pavilions 
erected,  the  chateau  took  on  more  the  air  of  a 
residence  and  had  less  the  appearance  of  a  fortress. 
This  was  especially  true  of  Paris.  Until  a  recent 
period,  comparatively  few  of  the  nobility  had  resid- 
ences in  the  capital :  their  lives  were  spent  in  their 
own  provinces ;  their  interests,  their  ambitions,  and 
their  strifes  were  local.  A  few  of  the  great  nobles 
had  headquarters  at  Paris,  usually  half-military  in 
their  character,  and  fitted  to  be  places  of  refuge  in 
times  of  disturbance.  As  the  power  of  the  King 
increased  and  his  favour  furnished  a  more  tempting 
field  for  ambition,  many  of  the  nobility  were  found 
in  attendance  on  the  sovereign ;  the  decline  of  the 
feudal  system  can  be  measured  by  the  increased 
attendance  of  nobles  at  Court.  When  tranquillity 
was  assured  under  Henry  IV.,  its  effects  were  soon 
seen  in  the  architecture  of  Paris.  New  and  mag- 
nificent residences,  intended  for  peace  and  not  for 
war,  decorated  and  adorned  with  a  splendour  of 
which  there  had  been  little  trace  in  the  past,  were 
erected  by  wealthy  nobles. 

A  great  number  of  fortified  castles  were  destroyed 
by  Richelieu's  order.  The  measure  was  judicious, 
although  its  importance  has  been  somewhat  over- 
estimated. These  feudal  fortresses  had  been  im- 
pregnable against  bands  of  unruly  peasants,  they  had 
been  formidable  against  men-at-arms  provided  with 
crossbows  and  battle-axes;  but  an  army  supplied 


u    o 
z    t 


France  as  Richelieu  Found  It  1 3 

with  cannon  could,  in  a  few  hours,  batter  down  the 
walls  of  a  castle  that  might  once  have  withstood 
a  lengthy  siege.  They  were  the  relics  of  a  past  age 
rather  than  important  features  of  the  present  age. 
Richelieu  might  have  allowed  them  to  stand  until 
they  fell  from  decay  or  were  torn  down  to  suit  new 
demands  of  fashion,  without  fearing  any  effective 
resistance  to  the  royal  authority.  Still,  the  destruc- 
tion of  fortresses  scattered  through  the  interior  of 
the  country  marked  the  close  of  an  era  of  internal 
disorder  and  private  warfare.  It  was  an  outward 
sign  that  the  robber-baron  and  the  noble  highway- 
man had  ceased  to  exist. 

It  was  with  political  institutions  rather  than  social 
conditions  that  Richelieu  had  to  do  when  he  became 
minister.  Important  as  was  his  influence  on  the  de- 
velopment of  the  French  monarchy,  he  was  no  in- 
novator,— he  followed  political  traditions  which  had 
already  taken  deep  root.  The  tendency  of  French 
growth  had  long  been  to  strengthen  monarchical 
power,  and  the  great  nobles,  who  once  regarded  the 
heirs  of  Hugh  Capet  as  only  first  among  equals,  at 
last  yielded  obedience  to  the  King  of  France.  The 
independent  power  of  the  nobility  waned  with  the 
decline  of  the  feudal  system,  but  the  authority  of 
the  monarch  varied  with  the  ruler  and  the  condi- 
tion of  the  realm :  there  was  order  under  a  strong 
king,  and  insubordination  under  a  weak  king.  In 
the  disastrous  era  of  the  English  wars,  any  central 
authority  was  at  times  unknown;  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  the  wars  of  religion  divided  France  on  new 
lines,  and  it  required  the  ability  and  good  judgment 


1 4  Richelieu 

of  Henry  IV.  to  render  the  influence  of  the  King 
again  paramount. 

The  overthrow  of  the  feudal  aristocracy  was  an 
unmixed  good,  for  the  unruly  power  of  turbulent 
nobles  exerted  no  valuable  restraint  on  the  mon-. 
archy.  It  was  rarely  used  except  for  private  ends, 
nobles  fought  for  their  own  privileges  and  their  own 
advancement,  and  none  of  them  sought  to  become 
popular  leaders  or  to  obtain  for  the  people  any  larger 
measure  of  self-government. 

But  there  were  other  checks  on  the  central  power 
which  might  have  become  institutions  of  value  if 
they  had  been  judiciously  developed.  Though  no 
legislative  body  resembled  in  its  constitution  the 
English  Parliament,  the  States-General,  chosen  to 
represent  the  three  orders  of  the  community,  had 
at  times  been  an  important  factor  in  political  life; 
their  sessions  had  been  comparatively  frequent  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  and  it  was.  as  a  member  of 
that  body  that  Richelieu  first  came  into  public 
notice. 

So,  also,  in  many  of  the  provinces,  the  States  still 
possessed  a  considerable  degree  of  authority,  not 
only  in  questions  of  local  interest,  but  in  their  rela- 
tions with  the  central  Government.  Many  cities 
enjoyed. special  privileges;  the  courts,  and  especially 
the  Parliament  of  Paris,  endeavoured  to  use  the 
right  of  registration,  which  was  required  for  the 
validity  of  royal  edicts,  as  an  excuse  for  advising, 
and  as  a  means  of  checking,  the  King.  While  there 
existed  no  regular  and  recognised  check  upon  the 
royal  authority,  yet  it  was  by  no  means  possible  for 


France  as  Richelieu  Found  It  1 5 

the  King  to  direct  the  State  according  to  his  own 
pleasure;  he  met  on  every  side  privileges  granted 
by  his  predecessors  which  could  not  be  lightly  swept 
away,  local  institutions  whose  preservation  had  been 
.guarded  by  the  acts  which  united  the  provinces, 
where  they  existed,  with  the  French  kingdom,  and  a 
vast  body  of  usages  and  customary  law  which  regu- 
lated the  rights  and  liabilities  of  the  inhabitants  of 
different  parts  of  the  country. 

The  provinces  which  formed  the  French  mon- 
archy were  irregularly  bound  together,  and  the  ad- 
ministrative system  was  not  far  removed  from  the 
mediaeval  confusion  of  the  feudal  ages.  Prompt 
action  by  the  Government  was  often  impossible,  the 
national  resources  could  not  be  rendered  efficient, 
and,  as  a  result,  the  influence  of  France  in  European 
politics  was  not  proportionate  to  her  wealth  or  her 
population.  The  kingdom  had  played  a  varying 
role  in  foreign  politics  :  at  times  French  kings 
had  taken  an  active  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  con- 
tinent, and  again  France  had  been  of  hardly  more 
importance  than  Poland.  In  the  sixteenth  century, 
the  wars  of  religion  so  distracted  the  land  that  the 
influence  of  the  country  outside  of  its  own  bound- 
aries was  small  indeed.  Henry  IV.  restored  order; 
he  was  an  able  and  ambitious  sovereign,  and  desired 
that  France  should  be  a  leader  in  the  questions  that 
were  agitating  Europe.  Abandoning  Italy,  where 
French  blood  and  treasure  had  often  been  wasted, 
Henry  sought  to  exert  an  active  influence  in  Ger- 
many, and  he  endeavoured  in  every  way  to  check 
the  dangerous  power  of  Spain. 


1 6  Richelieu 

After  his  death,  there  came  a  complete  change  in 
policy.  Mary  de'  Medici  wished  to  unite  the  fort- 
unes of  France  with  those  of  Spain :  she  married 
her  son  to  a  Spanish  princess  and  her  daughter 
to  a  Spanish  prince,  her  desire  would  have  been 
to  espouse  the  cause  of  Catholicism  in  the  contest 
that  was  soon  to  begin  in  Germany,  and  to  follow 
the  leadership  of  Spain,  the  most  Catholic  and  also 
the  most  retrograde  of  the  great  Powers  of  Europe. 
While  the  power  of  the  nobilijy  had  waned,  a 
body  of  great  landowners  had  not  yet  become  a 
body  of  courtiers,  and  in  a  weak  government,  such 
as  that  of  Mary  de'  Medici,  the  country  was  dis- 
tracted by  the  ambition  and  lawlessness  of  unruly 
nobles. 

Mary  de'  Medici  was  regent,  and  upon  her  son, 
Louis  XIII.,  soon  devolved  the  control  of  the  State, 
but  he  was  an  unpromising  boy  who  certainly  would 
never  become  a  great  and  vigorous  king.  Unruly 
elements  need  fear  no  severe  repression  from  him, 
nor  was  he  a  man  who  could  weld  together  the  im- 
perfectly connected  elements  of  French  administra- 
tion. It  seemed  that  the  Government  would  be  so 
occupied  by  troubles  at  home,  that  it  would  be  in 
no  condition  to  attempt  any  important  action 
abroad.  Whether  the  monarchy  would  become 
stronger  or  weaker  after  the  death  of  Henry  IV., 
and  what  part  it  would  take  in  European  politics, 
were  questions  that  might  well  have  embarrassed  a 
student.  But  at  this  time  appeared  a  man  of  genius 
and  extraordinary  force  of  character,  who,  for  almost 
twenty  years,  shaped  the  destinies  of  France. 


CHAPTER  II 

RICHELIEU'S  EARLY  CAREER 

1585-1617 

CARDINAL  RICHELIEU  was  of  ancient 
though  not  illustrious  lineage.  His  family 
belonged  to  the  lesser  nobility  of  Poitou ; 
they  originally  bore  the  name  of  du  Plessis,  and 
traced  their  ancestry  as  far  back  as  the  thirteenth 
century.  One  Guillaume  du  Plessis,  in  the  reign  of 
Philip  Augustus,  is  the  first  of  whom  we  find  any 
record,  and  even  at  that  period  the  family  held 
several  small  estates.  As  far  as  any  tradition  re- 
mains, they  seem  to  have  been  a  fighting  race, 
and  prone  to  deeds  of  cruelty  and  violence.  Such, 
however,  were  the  customs  of  the  times,  and  the  du 
Plessis  were  probably  neither  better  nor  worse  than 
most  of  the  petty  nobles  in  an  age  of  disorder. 

In  the  fifteenth  century,  one  of  a  younger  branch 
married  Perrine  Cl£rembault ;  the  child  of  this  union 
inherited  from  his  mother's  family  the  estate  of 
Richelieu,  on  which  a  strong  castle  had  long  stood, 
and  took  the  name  of  du  Plessis  de  Richelieu. 

3 

17 


1 8  Richelieu  [1585- 

While  the  older  branches  of  the  du  Plessis  family 
sank  into  provincial  obscurity,  the  Richelieus  made 
their  way  to  a  certain  prominence.  They  were  good 
fighters,  a  hardy  and  enterprising  race,  with  bold 
hearts  and  heavy  hands. 

In  the  civil  wars  of  the  sixteenth  century,  we  find 
them  taking  an  active  part ;  they  were  fierce  partisans 
of  the  League,  and  extended  no  mercy  to  Hugue- 
nots. Antoine  du  Plessis,  called  the  monk,  a  great- 
uncle  of  the  Cardinal,  left  his  name  in  the  annals  of 
the  time  as  a  man  noted  for  cruelty,  even  in  a  merci- 
less age.  The  family  wished  to  make  a  priest  of  him 
that  he  might  hold  certain  benefices.  But  he  fled 
from  the  abbey,  discarded  his  gown,  and  became  a 
soldier.  Perhaps  as  a  result  of  his  religious  training, 
he  was  especially  rigorous  against  heretics;  on  one 
occasion,  a  hundred  Huguenots  having  taken  refuge 
in  a  church,  he  butchered  them  all  in  cold  blood, 
and  he  carried  fire  and  pillage  wherever  he  went. 
At  last  he  was  killed  in  a  brawl  in  Paris, — "a  man," 
says  an  historian  of  the  time,  "  of  evil  fame  and  re- 
nowned for  robberies,  plundering,  and  blasphemy, 
and  moreover  a  great  ruffian  .  .  .  who  thus 
met  a  death  appropriate  to  his  life." 

The  monk's  kinsfolk  were  men  of  better  reputa- 
tion, but  they  were  well  fitted  for  the  stormy  period 
of  the  civil  wars.  These  rough  warriors,  while  they 
did  not  add  largely  to  their  possessions,  made  con- 
siderable progress  in  the  world  ;  they  obtained  a  cer- 
tain position  at  the  Court,  and  could  hope  for  some 
marks  of  royal  favour.  In  1542,  the  grandfather  of 
the  future  Cardinal  married  Frangoise  de  Roche- 


1617]  Richelieu's  Early  Career  19 

chouart,  a  member  of  a  powerful  and  illustrious 
family.  In  some  degree  she  derogated  from  her 
family  rank  by  marrying  a  Richelieu,  and  the  mar- 
riage contract  displays  the  difference  in  position  with 
the  somewhat  brutal  frankness  of  an  age  of  plain 
speaking.  The  father  of  the  bride  is  described  as 
the  "  high  and  mighty  Seigneur,  Antoine  de 
Rochechouart,  Baron  of  Faldonars,  Seigneur  of 
Saint  Amand,  Seneschal  of  Toulouse,"  while  the 
groom  is  briefly  disposed  of  as  "  Louis  du  Plessis, 
Knight,  Seigneur  of  Richelieu  and  other  posses- 
sions." 

If  the  bride  had  high  rank,  she  had  also  a  bad 
temper,  and  apparently  she  found  consolation  for  a 
misalliance  by  making  life  uncomfortable  for  her 
new  connexions.  She  was  a  woman  of  a  harsh  and 
domineering  character,  but,  however  disagreeable 
to  live  with,  she  transmitted  to  her  descendants  a 
vigour,  in  which,  indeed,  few  of  the  Richelieus 
were  ever  wanting.  Her  son  Francois  signalised  his 
entry  into  active  life  by  murdering  a  gentleman, 
who  had  himself  killed  Francois's  older  brother  as 
a  result  of  some  quarrel  over  precedence  at  a  church. 
Murdering  a  man  against  whom  one  had  a  grievance 
was  not  an  offence  to  be  strictly  inquired  into,  and 
ere  long  we  find  Francois  a  retainer  of  Henry  III., 
and  a  favourite  of  that  sovereign.  After  the  King's 
murder,  Richelieu  had  sufficient  sagacity  to  abandon 
the  lost  cause  of  the  League  and  espouse  the  fort- 
unes of  Henry  of  Navarre,  and  he  fought  under  his 
banner  at  Arques  and  Ivry.  True  to  the  family 
traditions,  he  was  a  bold  and  ready  fighter,  active, 


2O  Richelieu  [1585- 

pushing,  and  riot  over-scrupulous;  he  enjoyed  the 
favour  of  two  sovereigns,  was  made  captain  of  the 
guards,  and  at  last  obtained  the  office  of  grand  pro- 
vost. He  was,  we  are  told,  a  good  Catholic,  but 
scantily  educated,  resembling  in  both  respects  most 
gentlemen  of  the  period.  When  eighteen  years 
old,  Francois  married  Susanne  de  la  Porte,  a  girl  of 
fifteen,  belonging  to  a  reputable  parliamentary 
family.  If  the  pedigree  of  the  Cardinal's  mother 
was  less  illustrious  than  that  of  his  grandmother, 
her  character  was  much  more  amiable;  she  was  a 
quiet,  judicious  woman,  who  brought  up  her  children 
wisely  and  well.  Five  children  were  born  to  her, 
three  sons  and  two  daughters.  On  September  9, 

1585,  the  third  and  last  son  was  born  in  Paris,  where 
his  parents  were  temporarily  residing,  and  in  May, 

1586,  at  the  church  of   St.    Eustache,    the  future 
Cardinal   was   baptised   by   the    name  of    Armand 
Jehan,    son   of    Francois    du    Plessis,    Seigneur   of 
Richelieu,  and  of  Dame  Susanne  de  la  Porte,  his 
wife.     Five  years  later,  in  1590,  when  he  was  only 
forty-two,  the  father's  career  of  brawls  and  warfare 
came  to  an  end;  he  died  of  a  sudden  fever,  much 
regretted,  as  we  are  told,  by  his  associates  and  his 
sovereign.     He  left  a  widow  and  five  children,  and 
an  estate  quite  insufficient  for  their  needs. 

The  provost  was  heavily  in  debt  when  he  died ;  it 
was  even  necessary,  so  it  was  said,  to  put  in  pledge 
his  collar  of  the  Order  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  pay  the 
expenses  of  his  funeral.  The  widow  administered 
the  family  estate  more  prudently  than  her  husband 
had  done;  possessing  good  judgment,  and  practising 


FRAN£OIS  DU  PLESSIS,  SEIGNEUR  DE  RICHELIEU,  THE  FATHER  OF  THE  CARDINAL. 

FROM  THE  DRAWING  IN  THE  NATIONAL  LIBRARY,   PARIS. 

Reproduced  from  Hanotaux's  "  Histoire  du  Cardinal  de  Richelieu." 


16171  Richelieu  s  Early  Career  2 1 

a  rigorous  economy,  she  succeeded  in  saving  the 
possessions  of  the  family,  which,  indeed,  were  of  no 
great  value,  even  when  the  mortgages  on  them  were 
paid.  Like  many  needy  nobles,  the  Richelieus  ob- 
tained assistance  from  the  royal  purse.  In  1593, 
twenty  thousand  livres  were  paid  to  Susanne  de  la 
Porte;  in  the  next  year  she  received  fifteen  thou- 
sand more  as  compensation  for  some  abbey;  and 
when  the  oldest  son  was  of  age  to  attend  Court,  he 
at  once  received  a  pension  of  three  thousand  livres. 

The  family  residence  was  the  chateau  of  Richelieu, 
and  there  Armand  spent  the  earlier  years  of  his  life. 
When  he  became  rich  and  famous,  he  rebuilt  the  an- 
cient home  of  his  race.  There  were  other  and  more 
commanding  sites  which  he  might  have  chosen,  but, 
whether  from  a  desire  to  magnify  the  importance  of 
his  ancestry,  or  from  attachment  to  his  early  home, 
he  preferred  the  spot  where  the  castle  of  the  Riche- 
lieus had  long  stood.  Against  the  wish  of  the 
architect,  as  it  was  said,  he  insisted  on  preserving 
some  portions  of  the  ancient  structure — the  chapel, 
the  great  hall,  the  chamber  occupied  by  his  mother. 
Little  of  the  chateau  built  by  the  Cardinal  now  re- 
mains, but  the  extensive  park  which  was  admired 
for  its  beauty  in  his  day,  the  trim  avenues,  the 
canals,  and  jets  of  water  are  still  there,  not  greatly 
changed  in  appearance  since  Richelieu  wandered 
about  them  in  his  boyhood. 

His  pride  —  it  may  be  called  his  vanity  —  was 
shown  in  many  things  connected  with  the  family 
seat.  Not  far  distant  was  the  chateau  of  Cham- 
pigny,  belonging  to  the  great  family  of  Montpensier, 


22  Richelieu  [1585- 

which  much  exceeded  in  splendour  the  early  home 
of  the  Richelieus,  and  at  this,  as  a  boy,  he  may 
have  gazed  with  envious  admiration.  When  he 
had  become  prime  minister,  he  induced,  or  rather 
compelled,  Gaston  to  sell  Champigny  to  him,  and 
he  then  pulled  down  the  chateau  and  used  the  stone 
in  the  construction  of  the  new  and  splendid  home 
for  his  own  family,  which  now  had  no  neighbour  to 
rival  it. 

The  chateau  of  Richelieu,  as  it  stood  in  his  youth, 
was  a  good  specimen  of  a  feudal  building,  con- 
structed during  the  Hundred  Years'  War  in  a  period 
of  almost  perpetual  disturbance.  Eight  towers  pro- 
tected it,  and  it  was  surrounded  by  a  deep  and  broad 
fosse.  Within  were  the  great  halls,  the  numerous 
courts,  galleries,  and  chambers  of  a  castle,  intended 
not  merely  for  the  residence  of  a  family,  but  for  the 
presence  of  a  body  of  soldiers  in  time  of  need.  It 
was  surmounted  by  the  confusion  of  roofs,  turrets, 
and  chimneys  which  gives  a  picturesque  charm  to 
the  few  specimens  of  the  early  French  Renaissance 
that  still  survive.  It  was  an  agreeable  home,  and 
was  also  well  fitted  to  stand  any  ordinary  siege  at 
a  time  when  heavy  artillery  was  unknown. 

The  country  about  was  flat  and  fertile,  and  the 
view  from  the  chateau  was  extensive,  though  not 
striking.  It  stood  on  a  small  island,  surrounded  by 
the  waters  of  the  Mable,  not  far  from  the  little  vil- 
lage of  Braye.  There  the  Richelieus  dwelt  with  a 
certain  degree  of  feudal  importance,  but,  like  many 
another  family  of  country  gentlemen,  with  more 
state  than  ready  money.  Their  turbulent  activity 


THE  CHATEAU   OF   RICHELIEU    BEFORE    ITS   REBUILDING    BY   THE   CARDINAL. 

FROM    AN    OLD    PRINT    IN    THE   NATIONAL    LIBRARY,   PARIS. 

Reproduced  from  ^ianotaux's  "  Histoire  du  Cardinal  de  Richelieu." 


1617J  Richelieu 's  Early  Career  23 

had  not  gained  them  wealth,  and  the  mother  of  the 
Cardinal  was  often  disturbed  by  lack  of  means. 

The  condition  of  the  surrounding  country  during 
Richelieu's  youth  might  well  have  impressed  the 
mind  of  the  future  statesman  with  the  necessity  for 
a  stronger  Government.  Long  years  of  civil  war 
had  devastated  the  province.  After  Henry  III.'s 
death,  Poitou  espoused  the  cause  of  the  League. 
Not  until  Henry  IV.  had  been  for  some  years  on 
the  throne  was  he  able  to  restore  order  throughout 
France,  and,  in  the  meantime,  Poitou,  when  not  the 
seat  of  active  warfare,  was  infested  by  bands  of 
unruly  marauders;  trade  was  at  a  standstill;  the 
peasant  saw  his  field  pillaged  and  his  crop  destroyed ; 
the  roads  were  so  unsafe  that  few  ventured  to  travel. 

Richelieu  passed  the  first  years  of  his  life  in  a 
community  that  was  in  constant  apprehension  of 
arson  and  pillage,  in  a  land  where  famine  and  pesti- 
lence were  frequent  visitors,  and  where  these  con- 
ditions existed  because  the  law  was  not  strong 
enough  to  repress  the  violent  and  protect  the 
orderly.  These  early  impressions  were  as  deeply 
implanted  in  his  mind  as  the  lessons  he  conned  with 
his  tutor,  and  formed  quite  as  important  a  part  of 
his  education. 

Notwithstanding  the  troubled  condition  of  the 
country,  the  children  were  not  allowed  to  neglect 
the  studies  regarded  as  proper  for  those  of  their 
class.  Armand  began  his  education  at  the  chateau 
under  the  charge  of  a  prior  named  Guillot,  known 
for  his  charities  and  piety.  He  did  not  continue 
long  under  the  instruction  of  the  amiable  prior;  at 


24  Richelieu  [1585- 

the  age  of  nine  he  was  sent  to  Paris  and  entered  the 
College  of  Navarre,  which  his  father  and  uncles  had 
attended.  There  he  pursued  the  educational  course 
of  the  period,  from  which  could  be  gleaned  a  sur- 
prisingly small  amount  of  useful  information.  The 
chief  drill  was  in  Latin ;  the  scholars  were  required 
to  use  this  language  in  their  conversation,  and  the 
Latin  authorities  were  diligently  studied.  Richelieu 
pursued  also  the  course  technically  known  as  philo- 
sophy, in  which  were  embraced  logic  and  such  sci- 
ence as  could  be  found  in  the  books  of  Aristotle. 

The  schooling  of  the  time  was  narrow  and  severe, 
and  learning  was  imparted  with  the  aid  of  vigorous 
discipline.  The  rector,  Jean  Yon,  was  an  amiable 
and  venerable  man,  but  he  did  not  spare  the  rod. 
In  his  days  of  power  and  glory,  the  Cardinal  was 
sometimes  visited  by  his  former  preceptor,  and  he 
tells  us  that  he  always  saw  him  enter  with  a  certain 
sensation  of  fear. 

When  Armand  had  finished  with  grammar  and 
philosophy,  he  began  studies  that  were  regarded  as 
much  more  important  for  a  gentleman  whose  life 
was  to  be  passed  at  the  Court  and  on  the  battle-field. 
There  was  no  thought  of  making  a  priest  of  the 
young  Richelieu,  and  he  had  no  taste  for  a  religious 
vocation.  His  natural  inclination  was  for  the  career 
of  a  soldier,  in  which  so  many  of  his  ancestors  had 
spent  their  lives,  and  haying  acquired  the  moderate 
amount  of  learning,  for  the  most  part  quite  useless, 
which  was  proper  for  one  of  his  rank,  he  now 
entered  the  academy  of  Antoine  du  Pluvinel. 
There  were  taught  the  accomplishments  required  in 


1617]  Richelieu  s  Early  Career  25 

a  gentleman  and  a  soldier.  The  pupils  were  drilled 
in  riding,  fencing,  the  use  of  arms,  and  in  the  games 
of  the  period.  The  academy  was,  moreover,  a  finish- 
ing school  for  manners,  and  Pluvinel  endeavoured 
to  impart  to  his  scholars  the  latest  fashions  of  the 
Court,  the  graceful  bearing  and  ready  wit  that  be- 
fitted an  accomplished  cavalier. 

While  the  Marquis  of  Chillou,  as  Richelieu  was 
then  called,  was  fitting  himself  to  be  a  soldier  and  a 
courtier,  his  career  was  suddenly  changed  by  con- 
siderations of  family  interest.  Notwithstanding  his 
infirm  health,  Richelieu  had  qualities  that  would 
have  made  him  a  good  soldier,  and  by  nature  he 
hankered  for  fighting  rather  than  praying.  Yet  it 
is  probable  that  the  exchange  of  arms  for  the  Church 
afforded  a  better  field  for  his  subtle  and  astute  genius. 

The  circumstances  that  made  a  priest  of  Richelieu 
were  of  a  nature  not  uncommon  at  that  period.  In 
default  of  ready  money,  the  monarch  often  rewarded 
faithful  servants  by  the  patronage  of  some  ecclesi- 
astical preferment,  and  Henry  III.,  in  return  for  the 
services  of  Richelieu's  father,  had  given  the  family 
the  right  to  fill  the  bishopric  of  Lu^on.  Such  grants 
were  usually  unprofitable  to  the  spiritual  interests 
of  the  faithful.  The  Richelieus  administered  their 
bishopric  as  did  the  holders  of  most  livings  fallen 
into  secular  hands:  they  confined  their  attention  to 
laying  hold  of  the  ecclesiastical  emoluments  and  did 
not  concern  themselves  with  the  needs  of  the  diocese. 
A  succession  of  nominal  bishops  collected  the  rev- 
enues for  the  benefit  of  the  family,  and  the  Episcopal 
see  in  reality  remained  vacant. 


26  Richelieu  [1585- 

There  were  many  gross  abuses  in  the  ecclesiastical 
establishment,  but  a  scandal  like  this,  however  con- 
venient for  the  dilapidated  fortunes  of  the  Riche- 
lieus,  could  not  continue  indefinitely.  The  chapter 
were  perhaps  willing  to  do  without  a  bishop,  but  they 
would  not  allow  the  revenues  of  the  diocese  to  be 
absorbed  while  the  religious  buildings  went  to  ruin 
from  lack  of  repairs.  Accordingly,  the  canons  be- 
gan a  suit  against  Madame  de  Richelieu,  asking  that 
she  be  compelled  to  apply  some  part  of  the  moneys 
she  received  to  the  needs  of  the  church.  This  action 
brought  matters  to  a  crisis;  however  favourable  the 
authorities  or  the  courts  might  be  to  her  interests, 
they  could  not  publicly  declare  that  the  cathedral 
of  Lu^on  must  be  left  to  decay,  in  order  that  Ma- 
dame de  Richelieu  might  use  the  bishop's  salary  to 
educate  her  children  and  pay  her  domestics. 

The  mother  decided  that  if  the  Episcopal  salary 
could  no  longer  be  applied  to  the  needs  of  the  entire 
family,  the  Episcopal  see  might  furnish  an  establish- 
ment for  one  of  the  sons.  Accordingly,  the  second 
son  was  chosen  for  the  office,  and  though  only 
twelve  years  of  age,  Alphonse  de  Richelieu  was 
recognised  as  titular  Bishop  of  Lu^on.  But  the  son 
was  unwilling  to  carry  out  his  mother's  prudent  ar- 
rangement; as  Alphonse  approached  his  majority, 
he  declared  himself  unfit  for  the  duties  of  the  office 
and  refused  to  accept  it.  .  His  ancestors  and  kinsfolk 
were  eager  for  temporal  advantages  and  were  little 
disturbed  by  scruples,  but  Alphonse  was  a  being  of 
a  different  sort;  he  said  that  he  was  not  fit  to  be  a 
bishop,  and,  therefore,  he  would  not  be  one.  He 


DUCHY   OF    RICHELIEU. 

FROM    HANOTAUX'3    "  HI8TOIRE    DU    CARDINAL    OE    RICHELIEU.' 


1617J  Richelieu  s  Early  Career  27 

refused  the  mitre  and  chose  to  become  a  monk.  He 
became  an  inmate  of  the  convent  of  the  Grande 
Chartreuse,  and  there  passed  his  days  in  pious  ob- 
scurity until  he  was  called  from  his  retreat  by  the 
younger  brother,  who  had  become  the  ruler  of 
France. 

When  Alphonse  failed  her,  the  mother  turned  to 
her  third  son,  and  he  was  not  the  person  to  prefer  a 
convent  to  a  bishopric.  Armand  had  no  special  de- 
sire for  a  religious  career;  he  had  been  bred  for  the 
army,  and  that  was  the  calling  most  to  his  taste,  but 
the  present  opportunity  was  not  one  to  be  neglected 
by  a  young  man  who  combined  ambition  with  sound 
judgment.  The  see  of  Lugon  was  not  richly  en- 
dowed or  important  among  French  bishoprics,  but 
it  was  not  everyone  who  could  secure  a  mitre  at 
twenty-one,  even  if  it  were  not  of  the  greatest 
weight.  Certainly  it  was  better  to  be  a  bishop 
than  a  lieutenant  of  dragoons;  the  position  gave 
rank  and  precedence,  it  furnished  an  opportunity 
for  acquiring  prominence  and  power.  Richelieu's 
health  was  infirm  from  childhood,  and  he  seemed 
better  fitted  physically  for  the  career  of  a  priest  than 
of  a  soldier.  It  was  accordingly  decided  that  the 
third  son  should  be  the  bishop  of  the  family. 

Having  chosen  his  calling,  Richelieu  was  not  the 
man  to  dawdle  in  his  preparations  for  it;  he  quitted 
the  academy  and  exchanged  fencing  and  fashion 
for  the  more  serious  studies  of  theology.  In  his 
new  profession  he  made  good  progress,  and  soon 
familiarised  himself  with  the  theology  and  meta- 
physics taught  in  the  schools  of  the  Sorbontie. 


28  Richelieu  H585- 

Nor  was  he  long  delayed  in  receiving  the  reward  of 
his  labours;  in  1606,  when  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
Armand  de  Richelieu  was  nominated  by  Henry  IV. 
Bishop  of  Lugon.  He  lacked  nearly  five  years  of 
the  canonical  age,  and  the  French  ambassador  at 
Rome  was  instructed  to  ask  for  the  papal  dispensa- 
tion. As  this  was  slow  in  coming,  Richelieu 
resolved  to  take  the  matter  in  his  own  hands. 
Accordingly,  he  started  for  Rome,  there  to  prose- 
cute his  appeal  in  person.  He  was  successful  in 
obtaining  the  favour  of  Paul  V.,  and  the  dispensa- 
tion was  granted  with  no  more  delay  than  was  ordin- 
arily required  by  the  usages  of  the  Roman  curia. 
In  April,  1607,  the  young  aspirant  was  duly  conse- 
crated as  Bishop  of  Lugon ;  he  was  not  quite  twenty- 
three. 

In  after  years,  Richelieu's  enemies  accused  him 
of  securing  his  promotion  by  exhibiting  to  the  Pope 
a  false  certificate  of  baptism,  and  asserted  that  when 
Paul  was  informed  of  the  fraud  he  declared  that  the 
new  bishop  would  surely  prove  a  great  rogue.  This 
slander  does  not  seem  to  be  supported  either  by  the 
evidence  or  the  probabilities.  The  object  of  Riche- 
lieu's visit  to  Rome  was  to  obtain  a  dispensation 
that  would  allow  him  to  become  a  bishop  notwith- 
standing his  insufficient  age ;  his  lack  of  the  required 
years  was  the  only  excuse  for  his  going  there  instead 
of  waiting  quietly  in  France  for  his  bull.  It  was 
most  unlikely  that  a  candidate  asking  a  dispensation 
would  present  a  certificate  showing  that  no  dispen- 
sation was  needed.  Nor  was  there  any  necessity 
for  resorting  to  fraud,  when  dispensations  for 


1617]  Richelieu's  Early  Career  29 

insufficient  age  were  liberally  granted.  Many  scions 
of  great  families  were  unwilling  to  wait  until  twenty- 
five  before  assuming  the  mitre,  and  the  canonical 
rule  was  rarely  allowed  to  stand  in  the  way  of  their 
early  promotion.  Richelieu  did  not  belong  to  a 
great  family,  but  he  had  influential  friends  to  plead 
for  him,  and  a  fluent  tongue  to  plead  for  himself;  it 
would  have  been  surprising  if  the  dispensation  had 
been  refused,  so  there  was  no  necessity  for  forged 
documents. 

The  new  dignitary  returned  to  Paris  and  to  his 
studies  at  the  Sorbonne.  It  was  not  often  that  a 
bishop  sat  on  the  students'  benches,  and  his  way 
was  sure  to  be  made  easy.  He  soon  delivered  the 
prescribed  thesis,  received  the  required  degree,  and 
was  officially  declared  to  be  ready  for  his  ecclesias- 
tical work. 

The  traditions  of  the  Church  required  a  bishop  to 
live  among  his  flock,  but  this  rule  was  often  disre- 
garded. Many  bishops  spent  little  time  in  their 
dioceses,  and  many  spent  none  at  all.  Paris  fur- 
nished more  interest  for  the  worldly  and  more  op- 
portunity for  the  ambitious;  the  ecclesiastic  who 
could  join  in  prayers  with  the  King,  and  in  praises 
of  him,  was  more  apt  to  become  a  minister  or  a  car- 
dinal than  his  Episcopal  brother  who  spent  his  days 
exhorting  the  faithful  or  wrangling  with  his  canons, 
in  some  remote  district  of  France. 

It  might,  therefore,  have  been  expected  that 
Richelieu  would  prefer  to  push  his  fortunes  at 
Court,  rather  than  retire  to  a  small  and  obscure 
bishopric.  Such  was  not  his  decision ;  after  a  short 


30  Richelieu  [1585- 

stay  at  Paris,  he  set  out  for  his  new  see,  and  devoted 
his  attention  to  the  interests  of  his  flock  with  praise- 
worthy assiduity.  He  was  not  a  man  to  sacrifice  his 
temporal  ambitions  to  the  performance  of  ecclesias- 
tical duties,  but  he  decided  wisely,  if  only  his  own 
advancement  were  to  be  considered.  H«  was  still  a 
very  young  man,  little  known,  and  with  a  small  in- 
come. His  office  gave  him  indeed  a  certain  rank  at 
Court,  yet  he  was  an  unimportant  personage  among 
great  officials,  wealthy  nobles,  and  favoured  court- 
iers. In  his  diocese,  on  the  other  hand,  he  could 
exercise  authority,  and  this  was  always  dear  to  his 
heart;  the  faithful  performance  of  his  work  might 
advance  his  fortunes  more  rapidly  than  dancing  at- 
tendance on  the  Queen  or  her  ministers;  he  was 
young  and  could  bide  his  time.  At  all  events  he 
braved  a  winter's  journey,  which  in  those  days  of 
bad  roads  was  always  a  disagreeable  and  sometimes 
a  dangerous  undertaking,  and  on  December  21,  1608, 
he  celebrated  pontifical  mass  in  the  cathedral  that 
had  long  stood  in  dilapidated  disuse.  It  was  sixty 
years  since  the  faithful  at  Lugon  had  been  favoured 
with  a  bishop  residing  among  them. 

Richelieu's  flock  had  suffered  from  spiritual  want, 
and  they  were  not  much  better  off  in  their  temporal 
condition.  Lucon  was  situated  in  lower  Poitou,  and 
was  a  town  of  two  or  three  thousand  people,  the 
seat  of  a  very  small  diocese,  surrounded  by  great 
marshes,  in  a  district  both  unhealthy  and  unpro- 
ductive. The  peasants  who  lived  among  the  marshes 
of  lower  Poitou,  so  a  traveller  declares,  were  the 
poorest  in  France.  Naturally,  the  bishop  of  an 


;-, 


THE   SORBONNE   (INTERIOR   OF  THE  COURT). 

FROM    A   8TEEL   ENGRAVING. 


1617]  Richelieu 's  Early  Career  3 1 

impoverished  flock,  where  the  ecclesiastical  buildings 
and  revenues  had  been  neglected  for  half  a  century, 
could  not  expect  a  large  income  or  luxurious  sur- 
roundings. His  parishioners  were  burdened  by  taxa- 
tion, his  cathedral  was  dilapidated,  and  his  revenues 
were  small.  Even  his  ecclesiastical  wardrobe  was 
scanty,  and  he  lamented  the  condition  of  his  tunics 
and  dalmatics.  All  this  was  distasteful  to  a  man 
who  loved  splendid  surroundings,  who  thirsted  not 
only  for  power,  but  for  its  trappings  and  external 
pomp.  The  new  incumbent  was  little  pleased.  His 
was,  he  wrote,  the  poorest,  the  dirtiest,  and  the  most 
disagreeable  bishopric  in  France.  There  was  no  gar- 
den to  his  house,  no  horse  for  his  carriage ;  he  bor- 
rowed horses  from  friends  and  sighed  bitterly  for  a 
set  of  plate.  '  If  I  could  have  some  silver  plates," 
he  wrote  a  lady,  "  my  position  would  gain  a  little 
dignity."  He  was  long  engaged  in  negotiations  for 
a  service  of  plate,  but  the  five  hundred  crowns  re- 
quired for  its  purchase  caused  a  delay  of  some  years. 
He  encountered  other  embarrassments  as  he  as- 
sumed his  bishopric.  The  litigation  by  which  the 
canons  sought  to  compel  Madame  de  Richelieu  to 
restore  the  dilapidated  cathedral  was  still  pending, 
and  good  judgment  was  needed  in  that  thorny  affair. 
These  trials  met  a  young  man  who  was  actuated  by 
no  love  for  the  quiet  performance  of  religious  work, 
and  who  regarded  his  bishopric  as  only  a  stepping- 
stone  for  his  ambition.  But  if  the  duties  were  little 
to  his  taste,  he  performed  them  with  reasonable 
fidelity.  The  litigation  was  settled  and  the  cathe- 
dral repaired.  The  bishop  sought  to  better  the 


32  Richelieu  [1585- 

condition  of  his  flock  by  obtaining  for  them  some 
reduction  in  taxation.  In  his  treatment  of  the 
clergy  under  his  charge,  he  was  sometimes  imperi- 
ous, but  he  was  usually  judicious.  With  Richelieu 
in  a  petty  bishopric,  as  with  Napoleon  on  an  unim- 
portant island,  his  restless  activity  manifested  it- 
self, however  restricted  the  sphere  for  its  exercise. 
Richelieu  not  only  laboured  for  the  temporal  inter- 
ests of  his  flock,  but  he  preached  to  them  with  zeal. 
Judging  from  the  few  samples  we  have  of  his  ser- 
mons, they  were  marked  by  the  bad  literary  taste 
of  the  period :  they  were  crammed  with  citations, 
burdened  with  pedantry,  and  filled  with  mythologi- 
cal metaphors.  Later,  his  enemies  declared  that 
his  preaching  was  poor  and  ineffective,  while  flat- 
terers insisted  that  he  won  great  repute  as  a  sacred 
orator.  That  he  made  himself  somewhat  known  as 
a  preacher  was  shown  by  the  prominence  accorded 
to  him  a  little  later  among  the  clergy  at  the  States- 
General. 

During  his  residence  at  Lu$on,  Richelieu  found 
time  for  a  considerable  amount  of  theological  writ- 
ing. All  his  life  he  thirsted  for  literary  distinction, 
but  the  qualities  which  made  him  a  great  statesman 
did  not  make  him  a  great  writer.  At  times,  his 
style  was  clear  and  vigorous,  but  it  was  frequently 
injured  by  over-elaboration,  by  struggling  for  effect, 
by  artificial  modes  of  expression  that  weary  the 
reader.  No  more  in  literature  than  in  the  routine 
of  ordinary  life  had  Richelieu  any  taste  for  sim- 
plicity, and  metaphors  and  tropes  were  as  dear  to 
him  as  sets  of  silver  plate. 


1617]  Richelieu  s  Early  Career  33 

^x 

His  writings  were  not  inconsiderable  in  bulk. 
Some  of  them  were  published  later  in  life,  but  they 
were  largely  prepared  during  the  peaceful  years 
spent  at  Lu^on.  A  volume  of  Ordinances  which 
early  appeared  throws  light  on  abuses  that  were 
sufficiently  common  to  require  Episcopal  condemna- 
tion. Penalties  by  fine  were  imposed  upon  any  of 
the  clergy  who  kept  concubines  in  their  houses,  who 
got  drunk,  or  indulged  in  public  debauchery.  '  We 
have  noticed  with  regret,"  says  the  pastoral,  "  that 
many  priests  go  in  bodies  to  the  fairs  and  markets 
of  the  large  towns,  there  indulging  in  unseemly  fes- 
tivities," and  this  also  was  forbidden. 

These  prohibitions  do  not  imply  that  the  moral 
condition  of  the  clergy  was,  on  the  whole,  low,  but 
many  of  them  were  in  manners  and  education  little 
removed  from  the  peasantry  to  whom  they  minis- 
tered ;  the  civil  wars  of  the  sixteenth  century  had 
bred  disorder  among  the  clergy  as  well  as  among 
the  laity,  and  instances  of  unedifying  conduct  were 
not  uncommon.  During  Richelieu's  life,  there  was 
a  marked  improvement  in  the  entire  Gallican  Church, 
both  in  the  higher  and  the  lower  clergy,  and  to  this 
end  he  always  laboured  faithfully,  whether  as  an 
unimportant  bishop,  or  as  a  cardinal  at  the  head  of 
the  State. 

Other  admonitions  show  that  the  future  statesman 
was  not  free  from  beliefs  which  found  acceptance  at 
that  period.  He  was  much  disturbed  by  the  possi- 
bility of  evil  worked  by  necromancers.  In  one  pass- 
age he  refers  to  superstitions,  some  of  which  still 
find  believers  among  the  credulous  and  the  vulgar. 


34  Richelieu  [1585- 

"  When  a  certain  thing  has  a  certain  effect,"  he  writes, 
"  and  we  recognise  that  it  does  not  possess  that  quality 
by  its  nature,  and  that  God  has  not  promised  to  give  it 
the  power  supernaturally,  such  a  thing  should  be  con- 
demned as  diabolical;  for  example,  seeing  the  moon 
over  the  left  shoulder,  considering  certain  days  as  fortun- 
ate or  unfortunate,  putting  confidence  in  a  certain  num- 
ber of  lighted  candles,"  etc. 

His  book  called  The  Instruction  of  a  Christian  ap- 
peared in  1619;  it  was  largely  read  and  enjoyed  the 
distinction  of  translation  into  several  languages; 
though  not  an  extraordinary  work,  it  contained 
much  common  sense  and  sound  religion  briefly  and 
tersely  put.  Among  other  directions,  were  some 
which  illustrate  again  the  bishop's  belief  in  magic 
arts,  for  he  expressly  condemned  those  who  by 
means  of  magicians  and  sorcerers  invoked  demons, 
and  used  these  means  to  discover  secrets,  or  to 
accomplish  still  more  evil  ends. 

Richelieu  published  also  various  works  of  con- 
troversy against  the  Huguenots,  one  of  which  was 
entitled  A  MetJiod  to  Convert  those  who  have  Sepa- 
rated themselves  from  the  Church.  But  in  these 
controversial  writings  he  did  not  rise  above  the 
average  of  similar  treatises,  and  the  average  is  not 
high;  the"  Method  "  was  not  efficacious,  and  the 
dragoons  of  Louis  XIV.  brought  more  Huguenots 
into  the  fold  than  the  arguments  of  Richelieu. 

Thus  engaged  in  his  church  work  and  in  theo- 
logical writing,  during  six  years  Richelieu  spent 
his  time  almost  entirely  at  Lu^on,  but  his  attention 
to  the  affairs  of  a  petty  bishopric  did  not  interfere 


1617)  Richelieu  s  Early  Career  35 

with  his  watchful  search  for  any  chance  of  action  on 
a  larger  field.  His  ambition  was  for  political  dis- 
tinction, for  the  career  of  a  statesman ;  he  desired 
prominence  and  power.  He  had  many  influential 
friends  with  whom  he  corresponded,  and  whose 
favour  he  sought  to  cultivate.  He  was  eager  for 
promotion  and  not  over-scrupulous  in  the  pursuit, 
and  he  would  have  smiled  at  the  modern  apothegm 
that  the  office  should  seek  the  man.  He  believed 
that  the  man  should  seek  the  office  with  all  his 
might ;  he  knew  that  he  was  fitted  to  do  great 
things,  and  he  neglected  no  means  by  which  he 
could  obtain  the  opportunity.  The  letters  of  the 
Bishop  of  Lu£on,  when  he  was  a  humble  cultiva- 
tor of  the  great,  do  not  resemble  those  of  the  im- 
perious Cardinal  at  the  height  of  his  power,  and 
there  is  often  a  strain  of  obsequious  fawning 
that  is  not  agreeable.  It  did  not  disturb  Riche- 
lieu :  he  was  not  the  man  to  disdain  an  advantage 
because  the  means  of  obtaining  it  might  offend  a 
feeling  of  personal  dignity;  if  it  were  expedient 
to  fawn  on  a  stupid  cardinal,  to  defend  an  un- 
scrupulous adventurer,  or  to  flatter  an  ignorant 
queen,  Richelieu  did  it  with  zeal  and  without  com- 
punction. 

In  the  political  changes  that  followed  the  death 
of  Henry  IV.,  Richelieu  hoped  to  find  some  open- 
ing for  himself.  Henry  had  regarded  the  young 
bishop  with  friendly  eyes,  but  he  was  surrounded 
by  ministers  who  had  obtained  his  confidence  by 
long  and  faithful  service.  The  chief  place  in  the 
royal  favour  was  held  by  Sully,  and  that  sagacious 


36  Richelieu  [1585- 

statesman  would  not  have  favoured  the  promotion 
of  an  aspiring  young  politician  like  Richelieu. 

But  in  May,  1610,  Henry  was  murdered  and  the 
aspect  of  French  politics  changed.  Louis  XIII. 
was  a  child  of  eight,  his  mother,  Mary  de'  Medici, 
was  declared  regent,  and  thus  the  posterity  of  the 
fortunate  Florentine  merchants  again  became  rulers 
of  France.  Mary  bore  little  resemblance  to  her 
famous  predecessor;  she  possessed  neither  Cathe- 
rine's ability,  nor  her  energy,  nor  her  cruelty.  The 
widow  of  Henry  IV.  was  a  commonplace  woman, 
narrow  in  her  intelligence  and  bigoted  in  her  re- 
ligion, controlled  by  vulgar  favourites,  fond  of 
luxury,  averse  to  toil,  who  desired  tranquillity  and 
peace.  She  was  singularly  unfortunate  in  obtaining 
what  she  wished ;  her  regency  was  a  period  of  con- 
stant disorder;  her  power  was  overthrown  by  the 
murder  of  those  to  whom  she  was  most  attached ; 
she  suffered  from  the  ingratitude  of  a  son  who  did 
not  love  her,  and  of  a  minister  whom  she  had 
helped  to  become  great;  she  spent  long  years 
wandering  about  Europe,  and  ended  a  life  of  dis- 
appointment by  a  death  in  exile. 

No  one  who  read  the  unctuous  declaration  of  the 
Bishop  of  Lu^on,  which  he  sent  to  be  presented  to 
Mary  de'  Medici,  would  have  supposed  that  one  ex- 
pressing such  exuberant  loyalty  to  the  Queen,  would 
in  time  become  the  man  whom,  of  all  the  world,  she 
hated  most.  Richelieu  saw  that  the  Regent  was 
for  many  years  to  be  the  dispenser  of  power,  and 
that  it  was  unlikely  the  ancient  servants  of  Henry 
IV.  could  long  enjoy  her  confidence.  He  at  once 


MARY   DE'    MEDICI. 

FROM    THE   PAINTING    BY    F.    PCWBU8   IN    PHAOO    MUSEUM   IN    MADRID. 


1617]  Richelieu  s  Early  Career  37 

forwarded  a  declaration  of  fidelity,  in  which  he 
mingled  regrets  for  the  loss  of  the  King  with  praises 
for  the  wisdom  of  that  virtuous  princess  whom  God 
had  sent  for  their  needs,  and  prayed  that  death 
might  remove  him  should  he  ever  be  wanting  in 
fidelity  to  her.  This  paper,  prepared  with  manifest 
care,  did  not  reach  its  destination;  the  friends  to 
whom  it  was  intrusted  decided  that  they  would  not 
present  it  to  the  Queen.  Possibly  they  thought 
that  the  exuberance  of  its  style  might  not  produce 
the  desired  effect ;  probably  there  seemed  to  be  no 
special  need  of  a  declaration  of  fidelity  from  the 
somewhat  obscure  Bishop  of  Lu^on,  and  it  might 
be  interpreted  as  a  bid  for  favour  rather  than  as  an 
outpouring  of  zeal. 

Richelieu's  ambition  met  with  another  disappoint- 
ment in  the  same  year,  1610.  He  sought  to  be 
elected  one  of  the  representatives  to  the  assembly 
of  the  clergy  that  was  soon  to  meet  at  Paris.  His 
agents  intrigued  for  him  with  much  zeal  and  little 
success.  He  was  still  a  young  man,  almost  un- 
known outside  of  his  own  diocese ;  his  clerical  associ- 
ates probably  regarded  his  canvass  as  presumptuous, 
and  they  chose  the  Archbishop  of  Bordeaux  and  the 
Bishop  of  Aure  as  their  representatives. 

But  he  was  not  a  man  to  be  disheartened  by 
rebuffs.  He  visited  Paris  from  time  to  time,  and 
endeavoured  to  obtain  the  confidence  of  those  in 
power.  The  affairs  of  his  diocese,  though  appar- 
ently not  neglected,  became  less  important  to  him 
as  he  watched  with  increasing  attention  the  shifting 
scenes  of  political  life,  and  at  last  the  opportunity 


R    31K41H 


38  Richelieu  [1585- 

came  for  the  young  aspirant  to  display  his  talents 
on  a  more  conspicuous  field  than  the  poor  and  petty 
diocese  of  Lu^on. 

The  feeble  Government  of  Mary  de'  Medici  was 
marked  by  disorder  and  discontent.  She  endeav- 
oured to  appease  an  unruly  nobility  by  a  profuse 
distribution  of  places  and  pensions,  but  the  more 
she  gave  the  more  was  demanded.  Seeking  tran- 
quillity by  bribery,  she  failed  to  obtain  it  when  she 
could  bribe  no  more;  though  the  thrift  of  Sully  had 
accumulated  in  the  State  treasury  a  sum  great  for 
those  days  it  was  soon  dissipated  by  the  Regent ; 
the  money  so  freely  distributed  among  powerful 
nobles  excited  their  cupidity  and  did  not  quiet  their 
turbulence,  and  they  were  now  ready  to  take  up 
arms  in  order  to  compel  further  concessions  from 
the  Queen.  The  leader  in  these  troubles  was  the 
Prince  of  Cond£,  whose  rank  and  wealth  made  him 
a  great  personage  in  the  State.  He  was  closely  re- 
lated to  Henry  of  Navarre,  and  only  the  lives  of 
Louis  XIII.  and  his  younger  brother  stood  between 
Cond£  and  the  throne.  But  his  character  was  as 
weak  as  his  power  was  great ;  the  descendant  of  the 
heroic  Condes,  the  leaders  in  the  Huguenot  wars, 
the  father  of  the  great  Conde,  the  hero  of  Lens  and 
Rocroi,  was  himself  a  prince  of  singularly  unheroic 
mould.  He  was  irresolute,  timid,  with  no  talent 
except  for  intrigue,  and  no  passion  except  for 
money.  Whatever  his  defects  of  character,  his 
rank  made  him  prominent,  and  he  was  the  spokes- 
man of  a  body  of  greedy  and  unruly  noblemen.  As 
their  demands  were  not  granted,  in  the  spring  of 


1617]  Richelieu's  Early  Career  39 

1614  they  took  up  arms  and  a  petty  civil  war  began. 
There  was  little  fighting,  but  a  good  deal  of  pillag- 
ing, in  which  the  armies  on  either  side  showed  equal 
zeal.  The  Regent  was  unwilling  to  take  vigorous 
steps  against  the  insurgents,  and  by  a  liberal  be- 
stowal of  places  and  pensions  on  a  few  of  the  leaders, 
she  bought  her  peace.  But  as  a  result  of  this  un- 
important rising,  the  man  who  was  to  crush  the 
unruly  power  of  the  French  nobility  found  his 
opportunity  to  enter  public  life. 

In  order  to  make  some  pretence  of  zeal  for  public 
interests,  Cond6  had  asked  that  the  States-General 
should  be  called  together.  When  his  personal  de- 
mands were  satisfied,  he  intimated  to  the  Regent 
that  this  request  would  be  waived,  but  the  Queen's 
ministers  advised  her  to  convene  the  body  and  re- 
move a  pretext  for  future  disturbances.  Accord- 
ingly, in  June,  1614,  a  summons  was  issued,  bidding 
the  clergy,  nobles,  and  commons  of  France  to  choose 
representatives,  who  should  meet  at  Sens  in  Septem- 
ber, and  advise  as  to  the  needs  of  the  State.  The 
States-General  were  not  again  to  be  convened  until 
the  famous  assemblage  of  1789;  and  that  soon  dis- 
carded the  name  as  it  did  the  nature  of  the  body 
which  for  centuries  had  been  a  part  of  the  French 
monarchy.  There  was  a  certain  dramatic  fitness 
that  at  the  session  in  which  the  States-General, 
properly  so  called,  passed  out  of  French  history, 
one  of  the  members  should  be  the  man  who  was  so 
to  strengthen  the  French  monarchy  that  for  almost 
two  hundred  years  the  representatives  of  the  French 
people  were  not  again  convened. 


40  Richelieu  [1585- 

In  the  elections  of  members  to  the  States-General, 
the  influence  of  the  Government  was  usually  exer- 
cised without  concealment.  Discreet  and  well-af- 
fected persons  received  the  support  of  the  numerous 
functionaries  who  were  connected  with  the  central 
Government ;  ordinarily  the  number  of  those  entitled 
to  vote  was  small,  and  it  was  not  difficult  to  secure 
the  return  of  the  candidate  approved  by  the  authori- 
ties. During  the  late  troubles,  Richelieu  had  shown 
his  good-will  and  he  was  favourably  regarded  by 
those  in  power.  He  now  announced  his  candidacy 
as  a  delegate  of  the  clergy,  and  his  ambition  met 
with  no  obstacles.  The  clergy  of  Poitou  assembled 
at  Poitiers  to  elect  their  representatives,  and  the 
Bishop  of  Lu$on  and  the  Dean  of  Saint  Hilaire 
were  chosen  without  opposition. 

The  returns  from  the  elections  soon  showed  that 
the  Government  would  have  little  trouble  in  con- 
trolling the  deliberations  of  the  body,  and  the  place 
of  meeting  was  accordingly  changed  to  Paris.  On 
the  26th  of  October,  1614,  the  representatives  of  the 
three  estates  gathered  at  the  convent  of  the  Augus- 
tines,  and  from  there  marched  with  much  mediaeval 
pomp  to  Notre  Dame,  where  mass  was  celebrated ; 
on  the  following  day  they  held  their  first  session  at 
the  Palais  Bourbon.  There  the  addresses  of  the 
estates  were  delivered  to  the  King.  The  orators  of 
the  clergy  and  nobility  remained  standing  while 
they  presented  their  requests,  but  the  spokesman  of 
the  third  estate,  to  mark  the  inferiority  of  his  order, 
pronounced  his  speech  on  bended  knee.  When 
these  formalities  were  over,  the  representatives  of 


1617]  Richelieu  s  Early  Career  41 

each  estate  met  in  separate  session,  and  devoted 
themselves  to  the  preparation  of  the  cahiers,  the 
memorials  which  contained  their  petitions  to  the 
sovereign. 

The  proceedings  of  the  last  States-General  before 
the  Revolution  are  unimportant  in  French  history, 
and  they  were  only  important  in  Richelieu's  career 
because  they  enabled  him  to  gain  a  certain  pro- 
minence and  bring  himself  to  the  attention  of  the 
Court.  His  conduct  during  the  session  of  the  body 
was  satisfactory  to  the  Queen ;  he  started  no  trouble- 
some questions  and  his  voice  and  vote  were  always 
at  the  command  of  the  Government.  Probably  at 
her  suggestion,  he  was  chosen  as  spokesman  of  the 
clergy  at  the  formal  meeting,  where  the  representa- 
tives of  the  three  orders  presented  to  the  sovereign 
the  result  of  their  deliberations  and  asked  his 
favourable  consideration  of  their  petitions.  There 
was  nothing  in  Richelieu's  address  to  suggest  his 
future  career  as  a  statesman,  nor  did  it  indicate  any 
special  ability.  '  He  spoke  for  one  long  hour,  and 
was  listened  to  with  attention,"  is  the  only  com- 
ment made  on  his  effort  by  a  chronicler.  The 
speech  contained  many  tedious  references  to  an- 
tiquity and  many  fulsome  references  to  the  Queen, 
and  the  only  subject  in  which  the  orator  showed 
special  earnestness  was  in  his  plea  for  the  employ- 
ment of  the  clergy  in  the  service  of  the  State. 

'  Their  profession,"  he  said,  "  helps  to  fit  them  for 
the  public  service;  they  must  possess  capacity,  be  full  of 
probity,  and  govern  themselves  with  prudence,  and  these 
are  the  qualities  necessary  for  the  service  of  the  State. 


42  Richelieu  [1585- 

They  are  freer  than  others  from  the  private  interests 
which  so  often  harm  the  public;  observing  celibacy,  they 
have  nothing  to  survive  them  but  their  souls,  and  these 
do  not  accumulate  earthly  treasures." 

The  States-General  of  1614  came  to  an  unsatis- 
factory and  inglorious  close.  It  was  the  fatal  weak- 
ness of  this  body  that  it  could  only  petition,  it  could 
not  decree;  when  its  requests  were  presented  to  the 
King,  its  mission  was  ended.  As  it  had  no  control 
over  the  purse,  there  were  no  means  by  which  it 
could  enforce  a  speedy  and  a  favourable  answer  to 
its  demands.  The  deputies  of  the  third  estate 
wished  to  remain  in  session  until  the  King  had  an- 
swered their  petitions;  if  they  once  dispersed,  they 
knew  well  that  their  cahiers  would  be  of  little  more 
importance  than  waste  paper.  But  the  Government 
was  eager  to  be  rid  of  anything  that  bore  the  sem- 
blance of  a  representative  body.  When,  on  the  day 
following  the  presentation  of  the  cahiers,  the  depu- 
ties assembled  at  the  convent  of  the  Augustines, 
they  found  the  hall  empty  of  benches,  and  they 
were  brusquely  informed  that  their  meetings  must 
be  discontinued.  This  announcement  filled  them 
with  dismay,  A  member  writes: 

"  One  would  beat  his  breast,  reproaching  his  own  re- 
missness,  and  would  fain  atone  for  a  session  so  unfruitful, 
so  pernicious  to  the  state  and  to  the  kingdom  of  a  young 
prince,  fearing  the  King's  censure  when  age  should  teach 
him  the  disorders  which  the  States  had  not  removed,  but 
had  rather  fomented  and  increased.  Another  planned 
his  return,  abhorred  his  stay  at  Paris,  desired  to  see 


1617]  Richelieu's  Early  Career  43 

his  house,  his  wife,  and  friends,  and  to  forget  in  their 
tenderness  the  memory  of  his  grief  at  expiring  liberty. 
'  What  a  shame,'  said  another,  '  what  confusion  for 
France,  to  see  those  who  represent  her  so  little  esteemed 
that  they  are  not  recognised  as  deputies,  and  are  hardly 
treated  as  Frenchmen  ! ' ' 

Their  complaints  were  unheeded.  A  formal  an- 
swer was  sent  to  some  of  the  requests,  and  the 
members  were  informed  that  the  King,  in  his  own 
good  time,  would  answer  the  other  cahiers  when 
there  was  sufficient  time  for  their  examination. 
The  representatives  of  the  clergy  and  nobility  had 
taken  little  interest  in  the  proceedings  of  the  States- 
General,  and  they  were  indifferent  as  to  the  results. 
The  deputies  of  the  third  estate  had  been  more 
zealous,  and  they  now  returned  to  their  homes 
little  pleased  at  the  fruit  of  their  labours.  The 
States-General  ceased  to  be  of  importance  in  the 
development  of  the  French  monarchy,  there  was  no 
room  for  them  in  the  centralised  and  despotic  Gov- 
ernment which  was  perfected  by  Richelieu  and 
Louis  XIV. 

In  one  respect  certainly  the  orator  of  the  clergy 
at  the  States-General  had  been  sincere  —  in  his  plea 
for  the  employment  of  the  clergy.  He  strongly  de- 
sired that  the  Bishop  of  Luc,  on  should  receive 
political  preferment,  and  when  the  session  of  the 
States  had  closed,  he  remained  for  the  most  part  at 
Paris,  cultivating  the  favour  of  the  Queen  and  her 
ministers,  and  seeking  a  speedy  opportunity  for  his 
own  entrance  into  public  affairs. 

He  made  many  friends,  who  watched  his  interests 


44  Richelieu  [1585- 

and  were  ready  to  speak  a  good  word  for  the  politic 
young  bishop.  Some  of  them  complained  that, 
when  Richelieu  attained  to  power,  his  gratitude  to 
early  friends  was  not  such  as  they  expected  from 
his  former  protestations  of  affection.  It  was  doubt- 
less so.  Richelieu  was  absorbed  in  his  ambition ; 
on  his  death-bed,  he  declared  that  he  had  no  ene- 
mies but  those  of  the  State,  and  he  might  have  said 
the  same  thing  about  his  friends.  To  the  men  who 
could  assist  him  in  his  political  schemes,  like  Father 
Joseph  and  Mazarin,  he  was  always  constant ;  those 
who  aided  him  in  his  obscurity  but  could  render 
no  further  service,  occupied  little  place  in  his  mind 
or  memory. 

With  the  regency  of  Mary  de'  Medici  began  the 
great  prosperity  of  the  Concinis.  They  had  long 
enjoyed  the  Queen's  good-will,  but  not  until  she 
attained  to  power  could  she  show  the  lengths  to 
which  her  favour  would  go.  The  influence  of  the 
Concinis  in  French  politics  was  so  extraordinary, 
and  they  were  so  connected  with  the  beginnings  of 
Richelieu's  career,  that  some  account  of  their  rise  is 
not  without  interest.  Leonora  Dori  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  a  Florentine  carpenter  and  the  foster-sister  of 
Mary  de'  Medici.  This  early  relation  ripened  into 
a  lifelong  affection.  Leonora  was  an  ignorant 
woman,  vulgar  in  her  tastes  and  deformed  in  her 
person,  but  she  became  the  trusted  adviser  of  the 
princess,  and  when  the  latter  was  called  to  the  throne 
of  France,  she  took  Leonora  with  her  to  Paris,  and 
also  a  handsome  young  Kalian  gentleman  of  good 
birth  and  no  means,  called  Concino  Concini. 


CONCINO   CONCINI,  MARQUIS   D'ANCRE,    MARSHAL  OF   FRANCE. 

FROM    A    PAINTING   BY    LECOCQ. 


1617]  Richelieu's  Early  Career  45 

Concino  presently  married  the  Queen's  waiting- 
woman  and  friend,  and  the  two  exercised  over  the 
weak  mind  of__thejr.  patrntiess  a  strong  and  unwhole- 
some influence. 

After  Henry's  death,  the  Queen  was  the  head  of 
the  Government,  and  the  Concinis  became  great 
personages  in  the  State.  Whether  the  Queen  was 
influenced  by  her  ancient  fondness  for  her  foster- 
sister,  or  by  a  more  recent  affection  for  her  foster- 
sister's  husband,  wealth  and  office  were  showered 
upon  the  fortunate  man.  He  was  made  a  marquis, 
he  was  made  a  marshal,  he  was  first  gentleman  of 
the  chamber,  he  was  the  governor  of  Amiens,  and 
lieutenant-general  of  Picardy.  Years  before,  he  had 
arrived  in  France  a  penniless  adventurer.  '  When 
I  came  here,"  he  said,  "  I  did  not  have  a  sou,  and 
I  owed  eight  thousand  crowns." 

Now  his  wealth  was  estimated  at  ten  millions. 
This  extraordinary  prosperity  was  not  borne  with 
meekness,  and  naturally  Concini  was  the  object  of 
almost  universal  dislike.  But,  for  the  present,  his 
star  seemed  in  the  ascendant,  and  he  declared  that 
he  would  see  how  far  fortune  could  carry  a  mortal. 

In  the  meantime,  Richelieu  had  been  diligent  in 
seeking  to  secure  for  himself  some  position  at  the 
Court,  and  his  efforts  met  with  success.  He  had 
powerful  friends,  and  he  never  allowed  them  to  be- 
come slack  in  seeking  his  advancement.  In  1615, 
Louis  XIII.,  then  a  boy  of  fourteen,  was  married  to 
Anne  of  Austria,  a  daughter  of  Philip  III.  of  Spain, 
who  was  a  few  months  younger  than  her  husband. 
Though  the  new  Queen  was  only  a  child,  she  was 


46  Richelieu  11585- 

surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  officials,  the  number  of 
whom  corresponded  to  her  dignity  rather  than  to 
her  years,  and  among  them  the  Bishop  of  Lu^on  re- 
ceived the  appointment  of  almoner.  The  duties  of 
his  position  were  light,  but  it  gave  him  a  recognised 
position  at  Court,  and  enabled  him  to  make  further 
progress  in  the  favour  of  the  Queen-mother.  His 
action  as  a  deputy  in  the  States-General  had  brought 
him  into  closer  relations  with  those  in  power.  He 
flattered  himself,  and  not  without  reason,  that  he 
was  now  regarded  by  the  Queen-mother  and  Concini 
as  one  who  might  prove  a  faithful  and  useful  adviser. 
He  was  employed  in  various  confidential  missions: 
he  was  sent  to  treat  with  the  Prince  of  Cond£,  who 
was  engaged  in  one  of  his  frequent  revolts,  and 
afterwards  he  acted  as  secret  ambassador  to  the 
Duke  of  Nevers,  a  nobleman  sufficiently  powerful 
and  sufficiently  unruly  to  treat  with  the  King  almost 
on  the  footing  of  a  foreign  potentate.  In  all  these 
matters  he  acquitted  himself  with  skill;  he  acquired 
a  reputation  for  adroitness,  activity,  and  unscrupul- 
ousness,  and  was  regarded  as  a  useful  and  rising 
man.  The  character  of  the  Concinis  gained  them 
many  enemies,  but  the  young  Bishop  of  Lu^on  was 
not  a  man  to  antagonise  those  from  whom  he  could 
hope  for  promotion.  He  assured  Concini  of  his 
devotion  and  succeeded  in  obtaining  the  Italian's 
confidence.  '  I  entreat  you  to  believe,"  the  bishop 
wrote  the  favourite,  "  that  my  promises  will  be  fol- 
lowed by  fulfilment,  and  that  while  you  do  me  the 
honour  to  love  me,  I  shall  always  be  able  to  serve 
you  right  worthily." 


1617]  Richelieu's  Early  Career  47 

It  is  probable  that  we  can  see  traces  of  Richelieu's 
vigour  in  a  step  now  taken  by  the  Queen-mother. 
When  he  became  the  ruler  of  France,  there  was  no 
nobleman  so  powerful  that  the  Government  could 
not  safely  treat  him  as  it  did  any  other  subject,  but 
this  was  far  from  being  the  case  in  the  early  years 
of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIII.  The  Prince  of  Conde 
was  so  great  a  personage  that  Mary  de'  Medici  long 
hesitated  to  take  any  vigorous  measures  against  him, 
but  stirred  into  action,  either  by  the  counsels  of 
Concini,  or  the  influence  of  the  young  and  resolute 
Bishop  of  Lu^on,  she  now  ordered  Conde's  arrest. 
He  submitted  without  resistance,  and  when  three 
years  later  he  was  set  at  liberty,  he  left  the  prison 
walls  with  his  youthful  turbulence  permanently 
tamed.  The  way  was  now  opened  for  the  ascend- 
ancy of  the  Italian  favourite,  who,  with  infinitely 
less  capacity,  anticipated  his  compatriot  Mazarin  in 
becoming  the  head  of  the  French  government.  He 
had  long  mistrusted  the  ministers;  he  now  resolved 
to  bring  about  their  overthrow,  and  fill  their  places 
with  men  devoted  to  his  own  interests. 

Concini  had  overthrown  his  most  dangerous  rival, 
and  he  wished  to  have  only  friends  in  the  royal 
council.  With  the  exception  of  Sully,  the  ministers 
of  Henry  IV.  were  still  in  office,  but  they  were  old 
and  feeble  men,  and  while  they  retained  their  posi- 
tions, they  had  lost  their  power.  They  were  now 
dismissed  and  their  places  filled  by  men  selected  by 
the  favourite.  All  of  them  were  comparatively  ob- 
scure, and,  with  one  exception,  after  a  brief  enjoy- 
ment of  power,  they  returned  to  the  obscurity  from 


48  Richelieu  [1585- 

which  they  sprang.  But,  in  1616,  the  Bishop  of 
Lu£on  received  his  appointment  as  one  of  the  King's 
secretaries  of  state.  He  was  only  thirty-one.  With 
such  skill  and  industry  had  he  pressed  his  fortunes, 
that  two  years  after  he  arrived  at  Paris  as  a  deputy 
to  the  States-General,  an  obscure  ecclesiastic,  hold- 
ing a  petty  bishopric,  he  had  gained  the  confidence 
of  the  Queen  and  her  advisers,  and  now  became  one 
of  the  ministers  of  the  State.  A  few  weeks  before, 
he  had  been  chosen  as  ambassador  to  Spain,  but  he 
gladly  relinquished  this  employment  to  become  a 
member  of  the  Government. 

Notwithstanding  the  rapidity  of  his  elevation, 
Richelieu  was  still  a  very  obscure  man ;  he  was  little 
known  in  the  community,  and  no  one  dreamed  of 
the  career  that  lay  before  him.  He  had  made  his 
way  into  office  by  attaching  himself  closely  to  those 
who  had  places  to  bestow;  there  was  nothing  to 
show  that  this  adroit,  eager  office-seeker  had  the 
qualities  of  a  great  statesman.  He  owed  his  appoint- 
ment to  the  good-will  of  Concini.  A  man  of  Riche- 
lieu's sagacity  must  have  known  the  weakness  of 
Concini's  character;  he  must  have  realised  that  the 
extraordinary  elevation  of  this  vulgar  Italian  was  an 
outrage  and  a  scandal,  but  the  new  minister  was 
little  troubled  by  the  road  he  pursued,  so  long  as  it 
led  to  the  goal  he  desired.  Doubtless  he  over- 
estimated the  duration  of  Concini's  power;  but  no 
one  could  have  guessed  the  tragic  end  which  the 
favourite  was  so  soon  to  meet.  The  King  was  still 
a  boy,  and  Richelieu  believed  that  if  he  possessed  the 
confidence  of  the  Queen-mother  and  her  favourite, 


1617]  Richelieu's  Early  Career  49 

he  could  disregard  the  caprices  of  a  youth  who 
showed  neither  the  ability  nor  the  desire  to  perform 
the  duties  of  his  office. 

The  new  appointments  were  greeted  with  the  dis- 
favour that  attended  most  of  Concini's  acts.  The 
ministers  were  stigmatised  as  his  creatures,  as  men 
without  experience  in  the  affairs  of  State,  and  whose 
promotion  was  due  to  their  subservience  to  the 
caprices,  the  vices,  and  the  passions  of  the  Italian 
favourites.  Even  those  who  looked  upon  Riche- 
lieu's promotion  with  approval  little  imagined  what 
his  future  policy  was  to  be.  The  papal  nuncio  wrote 
that  the  new  minister  was  eminent  alike  for  elo- 
quence, virtue,  and  zeal  for  religion,  and  they  could 
ask  no  better  man  in  this  position  than  the  Bishop 
of  Lu<jon.  The  Spanish  minister  was  still  warmer 
in  his  praise.  "  He  is  my  intimate  friend,"  he 
wrote.  "  In  all  France  they  could  not  have  chosen 
a  person  more  devoted  to  the  service  of  God,  of  our 
Crown,  and  the  public  weal."  The  Venetian  am- 
bassadors, usually  so  sagacious  in  their  judgments, 
were  no  nearer  right.  They  declared  that  the  new 
minister  belonged  to  the  Spanish  party,  was  con- 
stantly found  at  the  Spanish  Embassy,  and  was 
reported  to  receive  a  pension  from  the  Spanish 
Government.  Opposition  to  Spain  was  to  be  the 
chief  feature  of  Richelieu's  foreign  policy,  and  the 
papacy  was  to  find  in  him  no  such  faithful  servant 
as  the  nuncio  hoped.  But  if  the  new  minister  cher- 
ished the  designs  which  later  he  was  to  put  into 
execution,  he  was  shrewd  enough  to  conceal  them. 
His  first  aim  was  to  gain  power,  and  if  the  Queen 


50  Richelieu  [1585- 

and  Concini  were  friendly  to  Spain,  Richelieu  was 
not  the  man  to  delay  his  entry  into  public  life  by 
any  Quixotic  opposition  to  their  views.  He  con- 
stantly assured  Concini  of  his  zeal  for  his  interests, 
and  his  devotion  to  Concini's  wife  excited  scandal 
in  the  community  without  arousing  jealousy  in  the 
husband.  "  I  can  never  discharge  the  obligations 
that  I  owe  you,"  he  wrote  the  marshal.  "  I  can 
only  show  in  all  my  actions  that  I  have  ever  before 
my  eyes  the  favours  which  I  have  received  from 
you  and  the  mare'chale. " 

With  such  surroundings  and  under  such  patronage, 
Richelieu  began  his  career  as  a  minister  of  the  State. 
The  power  which  had  been  so  eagerly  sought  soon 
slipped  from  his  grasp,  and  five  months  later  he  was 
involved  in  the  ruin  that  befell  his  patron.  But 
though  his  term  of  office  was  brief,  though  he  was 
under  the  necessity  of  yielding  obedience  to  a  pre- 
sumptuous favourite  and  an  unwise  Queen,  yet  in 
this  short  time  Richelieu  showed  the  sagacity  and 
resolution  which  he  was  to  display  on  so  great  a 
scale  during  long  years  of  untrammelled  authority. 
In  truth  he  was  born  to  be  a  nller  of  men ;  however 
tortuous  the  paths  which  he  followed  in  the  pursuit 
of  power,  when  he  had  attained  it  he  was,  from  the 
necessity  of  his  being,  the  exponent  of  his  own  con- 
victions. He  could  "appear  to  adopt  the  views  of 
those  whose  assistance  he  was  not  yet  strong  enough 
to  disregard,  but  his  actions  were  sure  to  bear  the 
impress  of  his  genius  and  his  will. 

In  his  instructions  to  Schomberg,  the  ambassador 
to  Germany,  the  minister  outlined  the  policy  which 


1617]  Richelieu  s  Early  Career  55 

confided  to  a  captain  of  the  guard  named  Vitry, 
and  on  the  24th  of  April,  1617,  with  a  small  band  of 
followers,  he  took  his  station  in  the  inner  court  of 
the  Louvre.  As  the  marshal  came  from  his  residence, 
Vitry  stepped  up  to  him,  and  putting  his  hand  upon 
his  arm,  said,  "  The  King  has  commanded  me  to 
seize  your  person."  '  Me!  "  cried  Concini,  putting 
his  hand  to  his  sword.  '  Yes,  you,"  replied  Vitry. 
At  the  same  time  three  or  four  pistols  were  fired  at 
the  favourite  and  he  fell  dead  on  the  spot.  His  fol- 
lowers made  no  resistance,  and  the  body  was  plun- 
dered, stripped,  and  left  where  it  fell. 

On  the  same  night  the  remains  of  the  ill-fated 
favourite  were  secretly  buried  in  the  church  of  St. 
Germain  1'Auxerrois.  They  were  not  long  left  at 
rest ;  the  brutality  of  the  French  populace  has  often 
been  excited  by  the  taste  of  blood,  and  the  mob 
now  broke  into  the  church,  the  body  was  dug  up 
and  hung  by  the  heels  on  the  gallows  by  the  Pont 
Neuf.  There  it  was  exposed  to  every  sort  of  brutal 
dismemberment ;  the  limbs  were  hacked  off  and  car- 
ried through  the  streets;  one  man  tore  out  the  heart 
and  broiled  it  over  the  coals,  and  these  insults  were 
accompanied  by  obscene  songs  about  the  loves  of 
the  favourite  and  the  Queen-mother.  Richelieu's 
carriage  passed  while  the  mob  were  engaged  in  these 
brutalities,  and  he  was  alarmed  lest  his  identity 
should  be  known  and  he  receive  rough  treatment 
from  those  who  regarded  him  as  a  follower  of  Con- 
cini, but  he  shouted  lustily  Vive  le  roi  !  and  was  able 
to  get  through  without  being  recognised. 

In  the  meantime,  all  was  exultation  among  the 


56  Richelieu  [1585- 

personal  followers  of  the  King.  As  Vitry  returned 
from  the  assassination,  Louis  cried  out,  "  Great 
thanks  to  you  ;  now  I  am  King. ' '  A  crowd  gathered 
about,  Louis  was  mounted  on  a  billiard  table,  where 
he  declared  that  Vitry  had  acted  with  his  approval, 
and  proceeded  to  issue  orders  amid  much  excite- 
ment. Richelieu  seems  to  have  been  uncertain  as 
to  his  own  fate,  when  he  made  his  way  through  the 
assemblage  after  hearing  of  the  murder.  He  had 
not  been  wholly  unmindful  of  the  vicissitudes  of 
politics  and  had  made  some  overtures  to  Luines;  if 
we  can  trust  his  own  statement,  Luines  now  told 
him  that  he  could  retain  his  office,  but  he  felt  that 
honour  required  he  should  resign  it  and  follow  the 
fortunes  of  the  Queen.  It  is  unlikely  that  such  an 
offer  was  made  with  any  idea  that  it  would  be  ac- 
cepted, and  still  less  likely  that  if  Richelieu  had  the 
choice,  he  would  have  refused  the  power  that  was 
dear  to  him  from  any  feeling  of  devotion  to  the 
Queen-mother.  At  all  events,  he  was  coldly  re- 
ceived by  the  King,  and  soon  made  his  retreat. 

The  old  ministers  had  been  hastily  summoned, 
and  Richelieu  entered  the  council-chamber,  but  he 
was  received  with  averted  looks ;  no  one  spoke  with 
him,  he  took  no  part  in  the  conferences,  and  when 
asked  in  what  capacity  he  was  there,  he  left  the 
room.  He  saw  that  his  retirement  from  Court  was 
inevitable,  and  that  if  he  hoped  for  a  return  to 
favour  he  must  accept  quietly  and  promptly  his 
present  disgrace. 

Either  because  he  had  to  some  extent  gained 
Luines's  confidence,  or  because  his  Episcopal  robes 


1617]  Richelieu  s  Early  Career  57 

were  a  certain  protection,  he  was  treated  with  less 
severity  than  his  associates.  Barbin  was  thrown  into 
the  Bastille,  and  was  afterwards  sentenced  to  life 
imprisonment,  a  penalty  which  was  indeed  remit- 
ted a  few  years  later.  Richelieu  was  treated  with 
courtesy,  if  not  with  cordiality.  He  resigned  his 
office  and  was  presently  ordered  to  retire  to  Lu$on ; 
in  his  own  phrase,  he  was  exiled  to  his  bishopric. 

There  was  much  justification  for  Concini's  over- 
throw, and  possibly  his  enemies  were  right  in  think- 
ing that  assassination  was  the  only  means  by  which 
his  power  in  the  State  could  be  destroyed,  but  only 
avarice  and  blind  animosity  could  explain  the  cruel 
treatment  inflicted  upon  his  wife.  The  sudden 
height  to  which  this  Italian  serving-woman  had 
risen,  the  jealousy  excited  by  her  elevation,  the  in- 
trigues of  courtiers  and  politicians  in  which  she  was 
involved,  affected  the  good  judgment  she  once  pos- 
sessed. It  was  not  strange  that  a  woman,  naturally 
ignorant  and  superstitious,  and  involved  in  danger 
and  perplexity,  should  have  sought  refuge  in  incant- 
ations and  sortilege  and  similar  nonsense,  and  these 
things  were  now  made  the  pretext  for  her  ruin. 

No  sooner  was  Concini  murdered,  than  the  royal 
guards  made  their  way  to  his  wife's  apartment.  She 
had  already  heard  of  the  catastrophe,  and,  hiding  in 
the  bed  her  jewels  that  were  of  enormous  value,  she 
placed  herself  upon  it.  The  guards  entered  the 
chamber  and  ransacked  it.  They  found  and  seized 
the  jewels,  and  carried  the  mar£chale  to  the  Bas- 
tille. She  had  done  nothing  which  deserved  any 
severer  penalty  than  banishment,  but  Luines  and 


58  Richelieu  [1585- 

his  associates  were  resolved  to  have  her  life  and 
her  money.  She  was  tried  for  being  a  sorceress, 
and  it  was  shown  that  she  had  a  nativity  of  the  King 
in  her  possession,  that  she  prepared  wax  tablets  for 
some  secret  purpose,  had  made  solemn  offering  of 
a  cock  to  some  unknown  deity,  and  had  consulted 
with  so-called  sorcerers  and  fortune-tellers.  Upon 
such  evidence,  the  Parliament  found  her  guilty  of 
treason  against  God  and  King,  and  sentenced  her 
to  be  beheaded.  She  met  her  fate  with  courage 
and  resolution.  '  How  many  people  have  gath- 
ered to  see  one  unhappy  and  oppressed  woman!" 
she  said,  as  she  was  driven  through  the  great  crowd 
to  the  place  of  execution. 

The  property  of  Concini  and  his  wife  was  confis- 
cated, but  the  State  gained  little  by  it.  Luines  ob- 
tained the  most  of  it  for  himself  and  the  rest  for  his 
followers.  The  wealth  and  honours  the  Concinis  had 
accumulated  during  seven  years,  to  the  great  scandal 
of  the  community,  were  acquired  by  Luines  almost 
in  a  day;  he  was  made  a  duke,  and  a  lieutenant- 
general,  and  first  gentleman  of  the  chamber,  and 
presently  he  received  the  sword  of  the  constable, 
the  highest  military  rank  in  France.  He  had  never 
fought  a  battle,  and  the  office  which  had  been  held 
by  soldiers  like  Guesclin  and  Bourbon  and  Mont- 
morenci  was  now  bestowed  on  a  man  whose  skill 
had  only  been  displayed  in  taming  and  flying 
falcons. 

The  assassination  of  Concini  was  followed  by  the 
overthrow  of  those  identified  with  his  fortune. 
When  Mary  de'  Medici  heard  of  the  murder,  she 


LEONORA    DORI,   WIFE   OF  CONCINI. 


1617]  Richelieu 's  Early  Career  51 

later  he  was  to  carry  into  execution.  They  showed 
unusual  maturity  and  a  remarkable  boldness  of  con- 
ception in  a  young  man  who  for  the  first  time  found 
himself  in  political  office.  Most  men  thus  situated 
are  quite  content  to  adopt  the  traditions  of  their 
predecessors,  but  Richelieu  had  already  clearly  in 
his  mind  the  rdle  which  he  intended  France  should 
play  in  the  affairs  of  Germany  and  of  Europe.  The 
Queen-mother  was  friendly  to  Spain,  and  it  had 
been  the  chief  object  of  her  policy  to  ally  the  two 
kingdoms  by  the  marriages  of  her  children ;  by  the 
Spanish,  Richelieu  was  regarded  as  a  trusty  friend, 
and  yet  the  young  minister  had  already  resolved 
that  so  far  as  in  him  lay  France  should  be,  not  an 
adjunct  of  Spain,  but  the  paramount  power  of 
Europe.  '  It  is  a  calumny,"  he  wrote  Schomberg, 
"  to  say  that  we  are  so  much  under  the  influence  of 
Spain  or  Rome  that  we  should  embrace  the  inter- 
ests of  either  to  our  own  prejudice  or  that  of  our 
ancient  alliances.  .  .  .  We  do  not  desire  the 
advancement  of  Spain." 

Nor  was  he  less  clear  in  outlining  his  policy  toward 
those  of  the  reformed  faith,  in  which  he  diverged 
widely  from  the  principles  accepted  at  Rome  and 
Madrid.  '  The  different  faiths  which  prevail  among 
us  do  not  render  us  different  states,"  he  wrote. 

We  are  united  under  a  prince  in  whose  service  no 
Catholic  is  so  blind  as  to  estimate  a  Spaniard  better 
than  a  French  Huguenot."  And  the  future  cardinal 
traced  in  no  uncertain  lines  his  future  policy,  that 
Huguenots  who  were  loyal  to  the  King  should  re- 
ceive the  same  favour  as  Catholics;  that  *F ranee, 


52  Richelieu  [1585- 

instead  of  being  the  servant  of  Spain,  should  seek 
to  establish  her  own  power  at  Spain's  expense,  and 
that  among  the  German  states  her  alliances  should 
be  formed,  not  upon  considerations  of  religion,  but 
of  national  advantage. 

In  the  internal  troubles  that  were  chronic  under 
Mary  de'  Medici's  weak  rule,  Richelieu  showed  the 
same  firmness ;  it  was  plain  that  the  day  when  re- 
bellious nobles  would  be  bribed  into  subjection  had 
gone  by,  if  he  remained  in  power.  His  Episcopal 
robes  did  not  prevent  his  assuming  the  somewhat 
incongruous  duties  of  minister  of  war,  and  he  per- 
formed them  with  indefatigable  zeal.  As  a  result 
of  Conde's  arrest,  the  dukes  of  Nevers,  Bouillon, 
and  other  great  nobles  had  once  again  taken  up 
arms,  and  were  in  open  rebellion.  Richelieu  de- 
voted all  his  energy  to  raising  money,  levying  sol- 
diers, equipping  armies,  and  he  insisted  that  those 
who  took  up  arms  against  their  sovereign  should  be 
reduced  to  obedience  by  force  and  not  by  favour; 
that  they  should  be  punished  as  rebels,  instead  of 
being  rewarded  as  repentant  sinners.  If  Richelieu 
had  remained  in  power,  his  strong  hand  would  soon 
have  been  laid  heavily  on  unruly  nobles.  But  when 
the  fortunes  of  the  insurgents  seemed  desperate, 
the  aspect  of  affairs  suddenly  changed,  and  the  new 
ministers  found  themselves  involved  in  the  over- 
throw of  the  favourite  to  whom  they  owed  their 
elevation. 

In  the  intrigues  of  the  Court,  and  in  Richelieu's 
own  plans  for  his  advancement,  one  person  had 
been  left  out  of  the  account,  and  that  person  was 


1617]  Richelieu  s  Early  Career  53 

the  King.  Louis  XIII.  was  indeed  only  a  youth 
of  sixteen,  immature,  ignorant,  untrained  in  pub- 
lic affairs.  It  was  often  said  that  his  mother,  de- 
sirous only  of  prolonging  her  own  rule,  purposely 
neglected  the  education  of  her  son.  Probably  the 
deficiencies  of  his  training  were  due  to  remissness 
rather  than  to  design,  but  the  result  was  the  same. 
The  King  ^vas  very  imperfectly  educated,  and  his 
companions  were  for  the  most  part  of  low  birth  and 
questionable  character.  Like  many  other  French 
kings,  Louis  found  his  chief  occupation  in  hunting; 
HeTumtecTon  Monday,  Wednesday,  and  Saturday, 
arid"  unless  there  was  something  to  interfere,  he 
hunted  on  the  other  days  also.  The  hours  when  he 
was  not  occupied  with  the  chase  were  employed  in 
juvenile  sports.  For  a  youth  of  such  tastes  the 
most  important  official  was  the  falconer,  and  for  this 
position  there  was  selected  a  man  named  Luines,  a 
country  gentleman  of  quiet  manners,  small  means, 
and  forty  years  of  age.  It  was  thought  that  a 
middle-aged  man,  with  no  showy  qualities,  would 
not  obtain  any  dangerous  influence  over  the  young 
sovereign,  but  in  this  opinion  the  Queen-mother  and 
her  advisers  fell  into  error.  Luines  was  admirably 
fitted  to  please  a  shy  and  diffident  youth.  He  was 
skilled  in  all  branches  of  the  chase,  and  that  en- 
deared him  to  his  pupil;  he  was  assiduous  in  his 
attentions,  and  if  he  lacked  in  brilliancy,  the  lack 
was  acceptable  to  a  dull  boy. 

Though  the  King  was  timid  and  ill-educated,  he 
did  not  like  to  be  neglected.  He  was  jealous  of 
power,  even  if  he  did  not  know  how  tc^x€F€ise  it, 


54  Richelieu  [1585- 

and  he  resented  his  own  unimportance  in  a  Govern- 
ment of  which  he  was  nominally  the  head.  The 
injudicious  conduct  of  the  favourite  made  it  easy  to 
arouse  the  King's  ill-will  towards  him.  There  were 
many  ready  to  excite  his  jealousy  at  the  splendour 
of  Concini's  surroundings,  to  call  attention  to  the 
long  retinue  of  attendants  by  which  the  favourite 
was  followed,  and  to  contrast  this  with  the  scanty 
retinue  of  the  King  of  France.  Concini  was  often 
lacking  in  courtesy,  and  it  was  said  he  was  injud- 
icious enough  to  refuse  some  requests  of  the  young 
King  for  money;  if  Louis  showed  no  indignation  at 
such  rebuffs,  he  did  not  forget  them. 

His  discontent  at  Concini's  conduct  led  to  secret 
plots  to  get  rid  of  the  powerful  and  odious  favourite. 
The  obscurity  of  the  council  that  deliberated  on  the 
matter  shows  that  the  King  was  left  in  the  hands  of 
unfit  companions;  it  consisted  of  the  falconer,  a 
gardener,  a  clerk,  a  soldier,  a  priest,  and  two  advent- 
urers. But,  however  humble  their  rank,  they  knew 
enough  to  keep  their  secret,  and  Louis  himself 
through  all  his  life  was  a  master  of  dissimulation. 

Under  the  laws  of  France,  he  had  now  been  of  age 
for  nearly  three  years,  yet  he  proceeded  with  a  plot 
to  arrest  one  of  his  own  subjects  with  as  much 
stealth  as  would  a  Nihilist  to-day,  planning  the  mur- 
der of  a  sovereign.  It  was  finally  decided  that  the 
marshal  should  be  arrested,  and  if  he  made  any  re- 
sistance he  should  be  killed.  When  such  were  the 
orders,  one  could  be  certain  that  those  carrying 
them  into  effect  would  discover  signs  of  resistance 
in  their  victim.  The  execution  of  the  order  was 


1617J  Richelieu  s  Early  Career  59 

cried:  "  I  have  reigned  seven  years.  There  is  only 
left  for  me  now  a  crown  in  heaven."  She  was  right 
in  saying  that  her  rule  in  an  earthly  kingdom  was 
ended.  Luines  wished  to  remove  the  possibility  of 
her  exerting  any  influence  over  Louis,  and  this  was 
not  difficult.  Louis  XIII.  was  a  singularly  cold  char- 
acter, and  he  viewed  the  most  of  mankind  with 
complete  indifference.  For  some  few  favourites  he 
showed,  indeed,  a  jealous  and  capricious  fondness, 
but  in  that  list  his  mother  was  not  found.  More- 
over, Mary  de'  Medici  had  bestowed  on  her  son  lit- 
tle love  and  less  care ;  in  an  amiable  character,  natural 
affection  might  have  survived  neglect,  but  Louis's 
character  was  not  amiable. 

She  sent  to  the  King  for  information  as  to  her 
future  position.  She  was  told  that  Louis  would 
always  treat  her  as  his  mother,  but  the  ominous 
words  were  added  that,  in  the  future,  he  wished  to 
be  the  King.  He  was  obstinate  in  his  refusal  to 
see  her,  and  negotiations  were  carried  on  between 
Richelieu,  in  her  behalf,  and  Luines,  on  the  part  of 
the  monarch.  It  was  at  last  decided  that  the  Queen- 
mother  should  retire  to  Blois,  where  she  was  to  be 
furnished  with  a  suitable  establishment  but  could 
take  no  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  State.  The  mother 
and  son  had  a  farewell  interview,  but  they  indulged 
only  in  formal  courtesies.  Louis  desired  to  have  his 
mother  out  of  the  way;  she  did  not  regret  leaving 
him,  and  if  she  regretted  leaving  power,  she  was  too 
proud  to  show  it.  At  the  head  of  a  long  procession, 
which  was  justly  likened  to  a  funeral  cortege,  she 
drove  away  from  the  Louvre.  Her  rule  had  been 


60  Richelieti  [1585-1617] 

marked  by  prodigality,  weakness,  and  bad  judg- 
ment, and  it  was  now  ended  forever.  In  the  last  of 
the  long  line  of  carriages  could  be  seen  the  pointed 
beard  and  pale  face  of  the  Bishop  of  Lu^on ;  he  was 
involved  in  the  odium  which  rested  on  the  followers 
of  Concini,  and  the  only  place  now  open  to  him  was 
that  of  adviser  to  a  queen  in  disgrace,  the  role  of 
prime  minister  in  a  phantom  court.  His  rapid  rise 
had  been  followed  by  what  seemed  a  complete  over- 
throw. But  he  was  a  man  of  rare  ability  in  intrigue ; 
even  his  enemies  acknowledged  that  in  this  young 
bishop  was  combined  an  amount  of  vigour  and  sa- 
gacity not  to  be  found  in  any  of  his  associates.  If 
the  prospect  was  dark,  the  events  of  a  few  years 
were  to  show  that  it  was  not  hopeless.  Seven  years 
from  the  time  that  Richelieu  left  the  Louvre,  the 
disgraced  follower  of  a  disgraced  princess,  he  re- 
turned to  it,  arrayed  in  the  robes  of  a  cardinal,  to 
assume  the  position  of  chief  minister  of  the  King. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE  YEARS   OF   DISGRACE 
1617-1624 

DURING  the  seven  years  that  followed  the 
assassination  of  Concini,  Richelieu  did  not 
play  an  important  part  in  French  politics. 
He  attracted  little  attention  except  from  those  fa- 
miliar with  the  intrigues  of  the  Court,  and  until  he 
was  made  a  cardinal  and  again  received  as  a  member 
of  the  ministry,  he  continued  to  be,  comparatively 
speaking,  an  obscure  man.  We  judge  his  early  life 
from  the  light  thrown  upon  it  by  his  subsequent 
career,  but  until  he  was  nearly  forty  Richelieu  had 
not  achieved  any  national  reputation,  and  was  little 
known  except  by  those  connected  with  the  royal 
Court  or  the  Court  of  the  exiled  Queen.  In  the 
contemporary  chronicles  and  memoirs,  which  were 
completed  before  1621,  it  is  curious  to  see  how  little 
mention  is  made  of  the  Bishop  of  Lu^on.  In  some 
his  name  does  not  appear,  in  others  he  receives 
casual  mention  as  a  person  of  secondary  importance 
requiring  no  special  notice.  In  the  Chronicles  of  Du 

61 


62  Richelieu  [1617- 

Tillet,  published  in  1618,  the  name  of  Richelieu  does 
not  appear;  in  A  Decade  of  History  under  Louis  XIII. 
by  Le  Grain,  published  in  1619,  he  is  briefly  men- 
tioned, and  the  historian  says  that  he  was  incapable 
of  filling  the  office  of  secretary  for  foreign  affairs; 
in  the  Annals  of  France,  by  Savaron,  published  in 
1621,  he  is  given  a  brief  and  rather  contemptuous 
notice. 

So  far  as  he  was  known  at  this  time,  his  reputation 
was  not  above  reproach.  All  acknowledged,  indeed, 
that  he  was  a  man  of  ability,  but  he  was  believed  to 
be  tortuous  in  his  policy,  selfish  in  his  purposes,  and 
unscrupulous  in  his  actions;  nor  was  this  estimate 
altogether  wrong.  No  one  suspected  that  the  aspir- 
ing and  intriguing  bishop  was  to  become  one  of  the 
world's  great  politicians;  no  one  appreciated  the 
breadth  of  his  judgment,  or  the  unswerving  courage 
and  resolution  with  which  he  would  rule  the  State ; 
his  extraordinary  qualities  could  only  be  displayed 
when  upon  him  rested  the  responsibilities  of  gov- 
ernment. 

Richelieu  retired  with  the  Queen-mother  to  Blois 
and  was  appointed  chief  of  her  council.  His  posi- 
tion was,  however,  a  curiously  ambiguous  one;  if  he 
professed  to  remain  constant  to  the  Queen's  fortunes, 
he  lost  no  opportunity  to  ingratiate  himself  with 
those  who  enjoyed  the  King's  confidence,  and  he 
accepted  his  new  office  only  on  receiving  the  royal 
consent.  He  reported  regularly  to  Luines  the  con- 
dition of  affairs  at  Blois,  rendering  an  exact  account 
of  the  Queen's  actions,  in  order,  as  he  says,  that  it 
might  be  seen  that  there  was  in  them  nothing  to 


1624]  The  Years  of  Disgrace  63 

excite  suspicion.  4  I  bind  myself  to  the  King,"  he 
writes,  "  to  prevent  all  cabals  and  plots;  not  only 
will  I  inform  him  of  them,  but  in  time  to  frustrate 
them." 

Notwithstanding  Richelieu's  professions  of  zeal  in 
the  royal  service,  perhaps  because  they  were  so  pro- 
fuse, he  did  not  obtain  the  confidence  of  Luines  or 
Louis  XIII.  His  character  did  not  excite  confid- 
ence ;  the  stronger  the  belief  in  his  ability,  the 
greater  was  the  fear  of  his  double-dealing  and  the 
apprehension  that  he  was  not  a  safe  person  to  leave 
as  the  Queen's  adviser.  At  all  events,  he  remained, 
as  he  himself  says,  a  constant  object  of  calumny  and 
slander. 

At  last  he  abandoned  his  position  with  the  Queen 
and  retired  to  his  bishopric.  Though  he  acted  on 
no  formal  order  of  the  Court,  Luines  was  well 
pleased  at  the  retirement  of  the  man  whose  ability 
he  feared  and  of  whose  fidelity  he  was  never  sure. 
Mary  de'  Medici  was  both  grieved  and  enraged  at  his 
departure.  '  To  send  away  the  Bishop  of  Luc_on," 
she  wrote  Luines,  "  is  a  proof  that  I  am  treated 
by  the  King  not  as  a  mother,  but  as  a  slave." 
4  I  beseech  you  with  all  my  heart,"  she  wrote 
her  son,  "  do  not  now  refuse  the  favour  you  have 
granted  in  allowing  the  Bishop  of  Lu^on  to  remain 
with  me.  Except  the  prosperity  of  your  reign,  there 
is  nothing  in  the  world  which  I  desire  so  much." 
Her  request  was  not  heeded ;  Louis  wrote  to  Riche- 
lieu commending  his  retirement  to  Lu^on,  where 
he  could  perform  the  duties  of  his  office,  exhort  his 
flock,  and  obey  the  commands  of  his  God  and  his 


64  Richelieu  H617- 

King.  It  is  doubtful  if  Richelieu  found  any  com- 
fort  in  such  commendation,  but  he  meekly  replied, 
that  he  had  now  no  care  except  to  pray  God  for  the 
King's  prosperity,  and  to  occupy  himself  with  his 
books  and  the  duties  of  his  profession. 

He  affected  a  philosophy  which  he  did  not  feel. 
"  I  live  contentedly  in  my  diocese,"  he  writes, 
"  engaged  with  my  books  and  the  duties  of  my 
office.  ...  I  am  resolved  to  pass  my  time 
peaceably  among  my  books  and  my  neighbours; 
.  .  .  thus  I  shall  be  free  from  calumny." 

Though  he  led  a  discreet  life,  avoiding  dangerous 
complications,  and  writing  nothing  more  compro- 
mising than  theological  dissertations,  the  pretended 
recluse  had  his  ear  open  for  any  sound  which  ^could 
indicate  that  he  was  to  be  recalled  to  active  political 
life.  But  if  he  thirsted  for  it  he  had  the  good 
judgment  to  conceal  his  eagerness;  he  was  young? 
he  had  confidence  in  his  ability  and  his  fortune,  and 
he  waited,  not  patiently,  but  silently,  for  his  hour 
to  come. 

Prudent  as  was  his  conduct,  it  did  not  satisfy  his 
enemies ;  they  still  feared  his  intrigues  with  Mary 
de*  Medici,  and  in  April,  1718,  he  was  ordered  to 
leave  his  diocese  and  to  retire  to  Avignon  in  the 
south  of  France,  far  distant  from  Blois  and  the 
Court  of  the  Queen-mother.  '  The  visits  and  as- 
semblies, the  coming  and  going  of  divers  persons 
wherever  you  are,  which  give  offence  and  cause 
mistrust  in  many  of  our  subjects,"  were,  so  Riche- 
lieu was  informed  by  the  King's  letter,  among  the 
reasons  which  led  to  this  step.  In  Avignon,  which 


1624]  The  Years,  of  Disgrace  65 

was  not  even  in  French  territory,  he  was  as  effectu- 
ally removed  from  French  politics  as  if  he  had  been 
exiled  to  Rome.  The  order  was  alike  unexpected 
and  unwelcome,  but  it  was  obeyed  with  the  prompt- 
itude by  which  the  disgraced  minister  sought  to  prove 
his  submission  to  the  King's  will.  The  letter 
reached  him  on  Wednesday  of  Holy  Week ;  he  did 
not  even  wait  for  the  Easter  celebration,  but  on 
Good  Friday  started  on  the  long  and  painful  journey 
to  his  new  place  of  exile. 

Richelieu  found  occupation  in  those  days  of  trial 
by  devoting  himself  to  polemical  writing,  and  he 
published  a  treatise  against  the  Huguenots.  '  I 
will  say  nothing  of  it  myself,"  he  writes  in  his  me- 
moirs, speaking  of  his  book  entitled  A  Defence  of 
the  Principal  Points  of  the  Catholic  Faith,  "  I  leave 
it  to  the  judgment  of  those  into  whose  hands  it  has 
come."  That  judgment  cannot  be  an  especially 
favourable  one.  Richelieu's  controversial  works 
were  characterised  by  the  dogmatism  that  is  usually 
found  in  such  productions;  probably  they  pleased 
zealous  partisans;  certainly  they  did  not  convince 
opponents,  nor  do  they  interest  posterity. 

His  life  at  Avignon  was  a  melancholy  one.  Early 
success  had  stimulated  his  ambition,  and  when  he 
had  once  tasted  the  sweets  of  power,  its  loss  was  gall 
and  wormwood.  Moreover,  there  was  no  certainty 
that  his  chance  would  return ;  the  King  looked  upon 
him  with  distrust,  and  he  could  no  longer  use  his 
position  with  the  Queen-mother  to  secure  his  recall 
to  the  royal  councils.  His  letters  are  full  of  dejec- 
tion. At  times  he  prepared  lengthy  memorials  which 


66  Richelieu  [1617- 

should  justify  him  in  the  mind  of  the  King,  but, 
discreetly,  he  never  forwarded  them.  Silent  submis- 
sion was  more  apt  to  secure  a  return  of  favour  than 
querulous  argument.  His  health  was  infirm;  in  his 
gloom  he  thought  that  death  might  be  near,  and 
prepared  his  will.  It  is  a  curious  contrast  with  the 
testament  that  became  effective  at  his  death  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century  later.  Then  he  left  palaces  to  the 
King,  dukedoms  and  millions  of  money  to  his 
nephews ;  now  he  disposed  of  a  few  thousand  livres, 
the  most  of  which  he  devoted  to  the  uses  of  his  dio- 
cese at  Lugon.  He  gave,  also,  some  farewell  advice 
to  his  successors  in  the  bishopric,  in  which  he  bade 
them  reside  in  the  diocese,  visit  the  flock,  and  en- 
courage by  their  example  the  clergy  under  their 
charge.  Such  were  the  views  of  the  disappointed 
politician  who  expected  to  close  in  exile  an  unsuc- 
cessful career. 

He  did  not  lack  friends  who  sought  his  return  to 
favour.  The  Pope  himself  asked,  not  indeed  that 
Richelieu  should  be  restored  to  office,  but  that  he 
should  not,  by  exile  to  a  foreign  city,  be  prevented 
from  attending  to  the  needs  of  his  flock.  "  If  M. 
de  Lucon  had  been  content  to  be  a  good  bishop  in 
his  diocese,"  was  the  curt  reply,  "  he  would  not  be 
where  he  is." 

While  the  bishop  sought  consolation  for  the  loss 
of  office  in  exposing  the  manifold  errors  of  Calvin- 
istic  theology,  the  Queen-mother  remained  at  Blois, 
discontented  with  her  lot,  and  constantly  quarrel- 
ling with  those  who  were  in  favour  with  the  King. 
These  disputes  were  not  very  important,  but  the 


1624]  The  Years  of  Disgrace  67 

Queen's  ill-humour  at  last  led  her  to  take  a  decided 
step.  If  she  was  not  kept  in  actual  captivity  at 
Blois,  she  was  under  strict  surveillance,  and  of  this 
she  resolved  to  rid  herself.  Plans  of  resistance  were 
concocted  with  discontented  noblemen,  of  whom 
there  was  always  a  plentiful  supply,  and  in  Febru- 
ary, 1619,  accompanied  only  by  her  maid,  she 
escaped  out  of  a  window  at  some  peril  of  her  life, 
and  made  her  way  to  Loches,  where  she  joined  the 
powerful  and  unruly  Duke  of  fipernon. 

This  escapade  brought  Richelieu  once  again  into 
the  political  field.  He  had  conducted  himself  with 
great  circumspection  during  his  year's  stay  at  Avi- 
gnon, avoiding  any  compromising  intimacy  with  sus- 
pected intriguers,  and  devoting  himself  zealously  to 
polemical  treatises,  as  a  faithful  servant  of  God  and 
the  King.  His  prudence  now  met  its  reward;  from 
the  depths  of  gloom  in  which  he  was  plunged,  he  was 
suddenly  called  back  to  the  field  of  intrigue  and 
ambition  that  was  so  dear  to  him.  Luines  realised 
that  Mary  de'  Medici  was  more  apt  to  involve  the 
kingdom  in  confusion  with  the  reckless  advisers  by 
whom  she  was  now  surrounded,  than  if  she  were 
counselled  by  Richelieu.  He  might  be  designing 
and  double-dealing,  but  at  least  he  was  sagacious, 
and  he  knew  that  both  his  own  interests  and  those 
of  the  Queen  would  be  advanced  by  a  discreet  policy. 
Father  Joseph  was  already  his  friend,  and  was  among 
those  who  declared  that  it  was  the  part  of  wisdom 
to  recall  him  from  exile.  Such  counsels  were  now 
received  favourably,  and  a  brother  of  the  Capuchin 
was  despatched  to  Avignon,  with  an  amiable  letter 


68  Richelieu 


[1617 


from  the  King,  bidding  Richelieu  forthwith  to  rejoin 
the  Queen-mother  and  resume  his  position  as  her 
adviser.  He  did  not  need  to  be  twice  bidden ;  on 
March  /,  1619,  the  messenger  of  good  tidings  arrived 
at  Avignon ;  on  the  following  day,  though  the 
weather  was  of  unusual  severity,  the  ground  covered 
with  snow,  the  roads  almost  impassable,  and  the 
country  infested  by  lawless  marauders,  Richelieu 
started  to  rejoin  Mary  de'  Medici.  After  nineteen 
days  of  hardship,  he  met  the  Queen-mother  at  An- 
gouleme.  His  political  life  was  resumed,  and  was 
to  continue  with  ever-increasing  success  and  glory. 

It  was  thought  that  Richelieu's  eagerness  for  a 
return  to  favour  would  make  him  a  prudent  counsel- 
lor, and  this  expectation  was  not  disappointed.  But, 
in  fact,  neither  the  Queen-mother  nor  her  followers 
were  in  any  condition  to  resist  the  royal  army,  and 
Richelieu  wisely  advised  her  to  make  terms.  Luines 
was  quite  ready  to  grant  her  anything  but  a  restora- 
tion to  power,  and,  accordingly,  she  received  the 
government  of  Anjou,  and  her  followers  were  re- 
warded in  proportion  to  their  ability  to  be  trouble- 
some. ' 

The  statesman  who  was  to  incur  the  bitterest 
enmity  of  Mary  de'  Medici  was  now  her  chosen 
adviser;  his  counsels  were  judicious,  and  probably 
she  could  have  had  no  better,  though  he  never  for- 
got the  prospect  of  his  own  advancement  in  the 
policy  which  he  dictated  to  the  Queen.  It  is  not 
important  to  trace  the  complications  that  were  con- 
stantly arising  between  the  King  and  the  Queen- 
mother.  Once  or  twice  she  went  so  far  as  to  take 


1624]  The  Years  of  Disgrace  69 

up  arms  against  her  son,  though  always  under  the 
pretext  of  seeking  his  advantage  by  driving  away 
evil  counsellors.  None  of  these  movements  were 
of  any  importance,  and  they  were  soon  terminated 
by  new  treaties  and  new  promises  that  were  rarely 
observed  on  either  side. 

Richelieu  was  firmly  entrenched  in  the  Queen's 
good-will,  and  whether  her  favourites  were  Italian 
adventurers  or  French  bishops,  she  was  always  ready 
to  do  her  utmost  to  advance  their  interests.  It  had 
been  very  vaguely  hinted  in  1619  that  Richelieu 
should  receive  the  royal  nomination  to  a  cardin- 
alate,  and,  subsequently,  Louis  wrote  to  Paul  V. 
asking  that  the  Archbishop  of  Toulouse  and  the 
Bishop  of  Lu^on  might  receive  that  dignity.  It 
was  the  recognised  usage  of  the  papal  Court  to 
appoint  a  certain  number  of  cardinals  at  the  request 
of  great  Catholic  powers  like  Spain  and  France,  and 
the  royal  nomination,  unless  revoked,  was  almost 
certain  in  time  to  procure  the  desired  honour.  But 
promotion  often  came  slowly,  even  when  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  King  were  earnest  in  their  demands, 
and  it  was  not  always  the  case  that  a  formal  nomina- 
tion was  urged  with  much  zeal.  This  was  undoubt- 
edly the  trouble  with  Richelieu's  candidacy.  The 
nomination  was  made,  and  there  the  matter  rested. 
At  the  end  of  another  brief  insurrection,  in  1620,  his 
promotion  was  made  one  of  the  conditions  granted 
the  Queen-mother,  and  the  King  at  her  request  sent 
a  letter  of  recommendation.  Probably  Louis  him- 
self was  willing  that  Richelieu  should  become  a  car- 
dinal, but  his  advisers  thought  otherwise.  Between 


JO  Richelieu  tie  17- 

Richelieu  and  Luines  there  was  some  formal  pre- 
tence of  friendship,  but  the  King's  favourite  dis- 
trusted both  the  capacity  and  the  character  of  the 
ambitious  bishop,  and  had  no  desire  to  see  his 
influence  increased  by  the  great  dignity  of  the  car- 
dinalate.  Richelieu  was  ungrateful  to  him,  so  he 
told  the  papal  nuncio,  and  he  desired  that  his  pro- 
motion should  be  indefinitely  postponed.  Even  in 
this  expression  of  his  wish  the  favourite  showed  his 
fear  of  the  aspiring  bishop ;  he  insisted  on  profound 
secrecy,  and  said  that  Richelieu  would  at  once  stir 
up  new  insurrections  if  he  suspected  opposition  to 
his  advancement.  After  Luines's  death,  Louis  told 
Richelieu  that  probably  he  would  never  have  re- 
ceived a  cardinal's  hat  had  the  constable  lived.  It 
is  most  unlikely  that  he  would  have  received  the 
promotion  if  Luines  had  both  lived  and  continued 
in  power,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  a  man  of  no  more 
ability  than  the  royal  falconer  could  permanently 
have  kept  out  of  office  a  person  of  Richelieu's  skill 
in  intrigue. 

Luines  held  his  power  until  his  death,  yet  it  is 
not  sure,  had  his  life  been  spared,  that  he  could  have 
much  longer  retained  it.  His  favour  was  less  odious 
to  the  community  than  that  of  Concini,  but  the 
difference  was  chiefly  due  to  the  fact  that  one  was  a 
foreigner  and  the  other  a  Frenchman.  In  eagerness 
for  gain,  Luines  in  no  way  yielded  to  his  predeces- 
sor; in  a  few  years  he  accumulated  an  enormous 
estate,  and  he  founded  one  of  the  great  families  of 
the  French  nobility.  However  successful  in  heap- 
ing on  himself  honours  and  wealth,  he  was  a  man  of 


DUKE   OF   LUINES,   CONSTABLE   OF   FRANCE. 

FROM    A    PAINTING    BY    ROBERT    FLEURY. 


1624]  The  Years  of  Disgrace  71 

very  moderate  capacity,  and  some  of  his  defects 
excited  the  contempt  of  his  master.  Louis  XIII. 
inherited  the  martial  tastes  of  his  ancestors,  and  was 
well  versed  in  the  details  of  warfare;  not  fitted, 
perhaps,  to  plan  a  campaign,  had  he  been  an  officer 
he  would  have  seen  that  his  regiment  was  carefully 
drilled  and  well  equipped  ;  if  he  had  not  been  a  king, 
he  would  have  made  an  excellent  lieutenant  of 
infantry. 

Luines,  on  the  other  hand,  was  unfamiliar  with 
military  affairs.  When  the  Huguenots  took  up 
arms,  Luines,  with  his  new  dignity  of  constable, 
undertook  the  command  of  the  army  that  marched 
against  them.  But  his  inexperience  was  sneered  at 
even  by  the  common  soldiers,  and  it  was  not  certain 
that  he  possessed  the  personal  bravery  that  might 
have  atoned  for  lack  of  technical  skill.  Louis's  dis- 
position was  jealous,  and  he  was  already  discontented 
at  the  power  and  wealth  to  which  the  favourite  had 
attained,  even  though  he  had  himself  bestowed 
them ;  he  was  a  good  soldier,  and  his  contempt  was 
excited  by  Luines's  failure  as  a  general. 

The  favourite  avoided  the  danger  of  overthrow  by 
an  early  death.  Though  he  kept  out  of  the  way  of 
bullets  during  the  campaign,  he  could  not  escape 
the  exposures  of  service  in  the  field.  He  was  at- 
tacked by  fever,  and  on  December  14,  1621,  he  died. 
His  death  left  the  way  open  for  Richelieu's  advance- 
ment. Paul  V.  knew  that  the  promotion  of  the 
Bishop  of  Lu^on  would  not  be  regarded  as  a  boon  by 
Louis's  favourite,  and  the  papacy  rarely  neglected 
excuses  for  delay.  The  cardinalate  was  a  great 


72  Richelieu  nei7- 

honour,  and  the  contest  for  it  could  be  utilised  by 
the  Pope ;  when  once  it  was  bestowed,  of  many  zeal- 
ous supplicants  there  would  only  remain  one  ingrate. 
But  after  Luines's  death,  the  French  representatives 
demanded  Richelieu's  promotion  of  the  new  Pope 
in  a  manner  which  showed  that  they  were  at  last  in 
earnest,  and  it  was  not  long  delayed.  On  Septem- 
ber 5,  1622,  the  elevation  of  the  Bishop  of  Lu£on 
to  the  cardinalate  was  announced  by  Pope  Gregory 
XV.  Richelieu  was  only  thirty-eight  when  he  re- 
ceived the  highest  honour,  except  the  papacy,  which 
the  Church  could  bestow,  and  his  early  promotion 
was  due,  not  to  any  great  distinction  which  he  had 
won  in  Church  or  State,  but  to  the  skill  with  which 
he  had  ingratiated  himself  into  the  confidence,  the 
good-will,  perhaps  even  the  affection,  of  Mary  de' 
Medici. 

His  newly  acquired  rank  as  Cardinal  rendered  his 
political  advancement  more  easy.  He  had  been 
regarded  as  an  adroit  and  able  man,  but  in  addition 
to  this  he  was  now  a  prince  of  the  Church.  His 
position  gave  him  rank,  entitled  him  to  a  preced- 
ence, such  as  were  enjoyed  by  few  even  of  the 
greatest  dignitaries.  A  man  possessing  the  power 
and  immunities  of  a  Roman  cardinal  was  a  formida- 
ble candidate  for  political  position,  and  with  Riche- 
lieu the  dignity  of  the  cardinalate,  like  the  lesser 
dignity  of  the  bishopric  of  Lucon,  was  chiefly  valua- 
ble because  it  was  a  stepping-stone  for  his  political 
ambition. 

He  soon  resigned  his  bishopric.  He  was  now  too 
great  a  man  to  disquiet  himself  about  the  affairs  of 


RICHELIEU   IN   CARDINAL'S   HAT. 
Reproduced  from  Hanotau.x's  "  Histoire  du  Cardinal  de  Richelieu. 


1624j  The  Years  of  Disgrace  73 

an  obscure  diocese;  he  wrote  to  the  members  of 
the  chapter,  thanking  them  for  their  conduct  to- 
ward him  in  the  past  and  resigning  his  office  as  their 
chief  pastor.  His  entire  attention  was  given  to 
securing  the  place  in  the  royal  council  from  which 
he  had  been  driven  five  years  before.  The  position 
in  Louis's  confidence  which  had  been  held  by 
Luines  remained  for  some  time  unoccupied ;  the 
charge  of  the  Government  was  intrusted  to  the 
Prince  of  Cond£  and  to  others  of  less  note,  but 
among  them  there  was  no  one  who  possessed  the 
ability  to  rule  the  State.  Richelieu,  in  the  mean- 
time, continued  to  be  the  Queen-mother's  chief 
adviser,  while  endeavouring  in  every  way  to  gain 
the  confidence  of  the  King.  In  1621,  when  the 
campaign  was  progressing  against  the  Huguenots, 
he  wrote  to  an  acquaintance,  bidding  him  not  to 
forget  those  who  had  no  friends  but  their  breviary 
and  their  books,  and  could  only  pray  God  for  the 
success  and  glory  of  the  Church  and  State.  Riche- 
lieu's attention  was  never  wholly  given  to  his 
prayers  or  his  breviary,  and  as  little  now  as  at  any 
other  part  of  his  career.  Years  after,  Louis,  in  one 
of  his  fits  of  petulance,  complained  that  Richelieu 
held  many  benefices,  but  did  not  read  his  breviary. 
If  he  read  it  at  all,  he  found  time  for  other  occupa- 
tions. 

After  the  death  of  Luines,  the  relations  of  the 
King  with  his  mother  became  more  friendly.  She 
lived  at  the  Luxembourg,  and  her  influence  over 
her  son,  if  not  entirely  restored,  was  again  very 
considerable.  Richelieu  was  her  trusted  adviser, 


74  Richelieu  tiei?- 

and  she  believed  that  his  restoration  to  office  would 
secure  for  her  a  paramount  influence  in  the  affairs 
of  the  State.  There  was  no  one  who  developed 
sufficient  ability  to  block  the  road  of  the  aspiring 
Cardinal;  the  ministry  was  composed  of  men  below 
mediocrity,  united  only  in  jealousy  of  Richelieu 
and  a  strong  desire  to  keep  the  adviser  of  the  Queen- 
mother  from  obtaining  a  place  in  the  King's  council. 
But  if  they  had  the  desire  to  hinder  Richelieu's 
ambition,  they  had  not  the  ability.  The  leader  in 
the  council  was  La  Vieuville,  the  superintendent  of 
finance,  a  man  of  small  capacity  and  of  questiona- 
ble honesty.  He  soon  despaired  of  holding  his  posi- 
tion unaided,  and  sought  to  secure  the  good-will  of 
Mary  de'  Medici  by  opening  the  door  of  the  council- 
chamber  for  the  return  of  Richelieu.  Apparently, 
he  expected  to  have  the  benefit  of  the  Cardinal's 
resolution  and  sagacity  and  yet  himself  hold  the 
chief  place,  and  such  a  hope  illustrates  how  little 
Richelieu's  character  was  as  yet  understood. 

The  King,  who  afterwards  supported  the  Car- 
dinal so  long  and  faithfully,  was  very  unwilling  to 
intrust  him  with  office;  he  did  not  like  the  man, 
and  he  still  associated  him  with  the  followers  of 
Concini,  all  of  whom  he  had  held  in  aversion. 
'  There  is  a  man  who  would  like  to  be  in  my  coun- 
cil," he  said,  as  Richelieu  passed  by,  "  but  I  cannot 
bring  myself  to  that  step  after  all  he  has  done  against 
me."  '  I  know  him  better  than  you,"  he  said  to 
Mary  de'  Medici ;  "  he  is  a  man  of  inordinate  ambi- 
tion." But  the  King  did  not  withstand  the  requests 
of  his  minister,  reinforced  by  the  solicitations  of  his 


1624]  The  Years  of  Disgrace  75 

mother.  If  we  can  confide  in  Richelieu's  memoirs, 
he  sought  to  be  excused  when  the  offer  was  made 
him ;  he  declared  that  even  if  God  had  granted  him 
certain  qualities  of  mind,  they  were  accompanied 
by  such  weakness  of  body  that  he  could  not  be  of 
service  amid  the  noise  and  disorder  of  the  world  ;  he 
preferred  the  position  of  an  occasional  counsellor,  to 
the  laborious  task  of  one  charged  with  the  duties  of 
office.  His  excuses,  he  tells  us,  were  not  received, 
and  certainly  they  were  not  intended  to  be ;  in  April, 
1624,  he  again  became  one  of  the  ministers  of  Louis 
XIII. 

La  Vieuville  not  only  found  Richelieu  willing  to 
accept  the  burdens  of  office,  but  he  soon  discovered 
that  in  any  ministry  of  which  the  Cardinal  formed 
a  part,  he  was  sure  to  be  the  head.  In  August, 
1624,  La  Vieuville  was  arrested  on  the  charge  of 
corruption  in  office,  a  charge  probably  well  founded, 
and  he  was  confined  in  the  chateau  of  Amboise. 
Richelieu  became  the  head  of  the  council;  his  associ- 
ates, during  all  his  career,  were  merely  assistants 
to  do  his  bidding;  his  will  was  absolute  and  uncon- 
trolled, and  the  other  members  of  the  ministry  did 
not  presume  to  question  it.  He  would  brook  no 
division  of  authority;  he  was  chief  minister  and 
practically  sole  minister  for  over  eighteen  years,  and 
the  power  which  he  had  so  long  desired  and  for 
which  he  had  so  indefatigably  laboured  was  never 
to  be  wrested  from  his  grasp. 

Richelieu's  continuance  in  power  was  in  a  great 
measure  due  to  his  fitness  to  exercise  it,  but  if  he 
had  relied  on  that  alone  he  would  not  have  died 


76  Richelieu  [1617- 

prime  minister.  A  statesman  in  those  days  did  not 
owe  his  position  to  the  public ;  he  was  not  at  the 
mercy  of  popular  caprice;  public  opinion  had  little 
means  of  expression,  and  most  of  the  community 
regarded  affairs  of  State  as  something  far  removed 
from  them,  with  which  they  had  no  concern.  But 
at  any  moment  Richelieu  could  be  dismissed  from 
office  by  his  royal  master,  and  in  Louis  XIII.  he 
had  to  deal  with  a  man  of  jealous  and  capricious 
character.  The  King  was  by  no  means  a.  faineant 
monarch,  he  was  not  absorbed  in  pleasure,  he  was 
not  indifferent  to  the  concerns  of  the  State  of  which 
he  was  the  head.  He  was,  moreover,  jealous  of  the 
power  that  was  exercised  by  his  own  servants,  prone 
to  be  displeased,  ready  to  believe  evil  of  those  in 
whose  hands  authority  was  placed.  '  Your  Ma- 
jesty," said  the  minister  to  his  sovereign,  "  is  ex- 
tremely suspicious,  jealous,  susceptible  to  passing 
aversions,  and  to  variable  humours  and  inclina- 
tions." 

This  was  true,  but  it  was  also  true  that  Louis 
could  appreciate  the  qualities  of  a  great  man,  and 
subdue  his  own  petulant  jealousies  and  dislikes  when 
he  felt  that  such  a  course  was  for  the  interest  of  the 
kingdom.  Not  an  able  man  himself,  he  was  un- 
shaken in  his  support  of  those  who  were  fit  to  guide 
the  State.  Richelieu  would  soon  have  been  driven 
from  power  by  the  cabals  of  countless  enemies  if  he 
had  not  accomplished  great  things.  The  influence 
which  France  exerted  in  Europe  under  his  rule,  the 
strength  of  the  administrative  system  which  he 
created,  the  internal  good  order  which  he  enforced, 


LOUIS  XIII. 


1624]  The  Years  of  Disgrace  77 

were  acceptable  to  the  sovereign.  Often,  indeed, 
in  moments  of  weakness,  he  promised  the  overthrow 
of  the  minister,  but  Richelieu's  influence  was  always 
strong  enough  to  turn  Louis  from  such  a  purpose. 
The  King's  mother,  wife,  and  brother,  the  women 
whom  he  regarded  with  affection,  the  courtiers  whom 
he  viewed  with  favour,  the  confessors  to  whom  he 
confided  the  secrets  of  his  soul,  all  united  in  desiring 
the  overthrow  of  the  imperious  Cardinal,  and  Louis 
had  for  him  no  feeling  of  personal  liking;  and  yet 
during  nineteen  years  they  were  unable  to  procure 
from  the  King  the  dismissal  of  his  minister.  Priests 
denounced  him  as  a  faithless  son  of  the  Church  who 
espoused  the  cause  of  heretical  princes;  courtiers 
declaimed  against  the  man  who  sought  to  humble  a 
proud  nobility  and  sent  members  of  the  noblest 
French  families  to  the  block;  women  prayed  to  be 
delivered  from  this  cold  and  merciless  tyrant,  but 
the  King  was  faithful  to  him  to  the  end.  It  showed 
the  power  which  a  strong  nature  could  exercise 
upon  a  weaker  one,  and  it  showed  also  the  untiring 
attention  with  which  the  minister  watched  the  foi- 
bles and  the  weaknesses  of  his  master.  If  he  was 
resolved  to  exercise  an  absolute  control,  he  had  the 
art  to  conceal  it.  He  constantly  consulted  with  the 
King;  he  declared  himself  to  be  only  the  King's 
shadow,  the  exponent  of  his  desires,  the  executor  of 
his  purposes.  He  did  not  even  neglect  the  matter 
of  keeping  his  master  constantly  in  view.  Where 
the  King  was,  there  was  the  servant;  if  Louis  went 
to  war,  Richelieu  attended  him ;  if  he  went  from 
one  palace  or  hunting-lodge  to  another  in  search  of 


Richelieu 


[1617-16241 


pleasure,  the  minister  followed  also.  Louis's  char- 
acter was  not  altogether  a  weak  one,  but  it  had  its 
limitations.  If  Richelieu  had  ever  left  the  King  for 
six  months,  surrounded  by  his  enemies,  without 
himself  being  present  to  reply  to  them,  his  disgrace 
would  have  been  certain,  but  he  was  never  guilty  of 
such  carelessness. 


CHAPTER    IV 

THE   OVERTHROW    OF   THE    HUGUENOT   PARTY 
1624-1629 

THE  problems  which  confronted  the  new  minis- 
ter were  many  and  serious,  and  he  has  fairly 
stated  them  in  the  testament  in  which  he  re- 
viewed the  results  of  his  long  administration. 

"  When  ycur  Majesty  called  me  to  your  councils,  I 
can  truly  say  that  the  Huguenots  divided  the  State  with 
you  ;  the  nobles  conducted  themselves  as  if  they  were 
not  subjects,  and  the  governors  of  provinces  as  if  they 
were  independent  sovereigns.  Foreign  alliances  were 
despised,  private  interests  preferred  to  public,  and  the 
dignity  of  your  Majesty  so  abased  it  could  hardly  be 
recognised.  I  promised  your  Majesty  to  use  all  my  in- 
dustry and  power  to  ruin  the  Huguenot  party,  lower  the 
pride  of  the  nobles,  lead  all  subjects  to  their  duty,  and 
restore  the  country's  name  among  foreign  nations." 

He  could  justly  claim  that  his  promise  was  fully 
executed. 

While  the  Queen-mother  did  much  to  hasten 
Richelieu's  promotion,  an  influential  coterie  had 

79 


8o  Richelieu  [1624- 

also  been  zealous  in  advancing  his  interests.  It  is 
doubtful  if  they  would  have  been  as  ardent,  could 
they  have  foreseen  the  Cardinal's  career,  for  his 
advocates  were  for  the  most  part  bitter  Catholics, 
who  thought  that  in  Richelieu  they  had  found  the 
man  fitted  by  his  talents  and  his  beliefs  to  become 
their  leader.  Not  only  the  position  of  the  Hugue- 
nots in  France,  but  the  religious  antagonisms  out  of 
which  the  Thirty  Years'  War  had  grown,  tended  to 
consolidate  a  strong  Catholic  party,  resolved  to  de- 
fend the  Church  from  what  they  regarded  as  the 
growing  encroachments  of  Protestantism.  It  was 
natural  that  they  should  look  upon  Richelieu  as 
their  champion.  He  was  an  earnest  Catholic,  he  was 
a  bishop,  a  cardinal,  a  prince  of  the  Church.  If  he 
were  not  in  perfect  sympathy  with  all  his  followers, 
he  was  not  the  man  to  discourage  their  zeal  for  his 
advancement  by  any  injudicious  expression  of  dis- 
sent from  their  views.  In  truth,  his  sympathies 
were  with  Catholicism,  but  in  him  the  priest  was 
always  second  to  the  politician.  When  he  had 
attained  to  power,  his  first  object  was  to  increase 
the  influence  of  France  at  the  expense  of  Spain  and 
Austria;  they  were  Catholic  powers,  and  Richelieu 
naturally  found  himself  in  alliance  with  Protestant 
states.  Many  of  his  early  adherents  would  have 
sacrificed  political  schemes  that  involved  co-opera- 
tion with  heretics,  but  Richelieu  disregarded  their 
advice,  disappointed  their  hopes,  and  in  time  became 
to  them  an  object  of  execration. 

It  was  soon  apparent  that  the  Cardinal  was  to 
prove  neither  a  friend  of  Spain  nor  a  devoted  son  of 


16291     Overthrow  of  the  Huguenot  Party        81 

the  Church.  The  Spanish  were  involved  in  a  quar- 
rel with  the  Orisons,  a  Protestant  confederacy  of 
Switzerland.  Hardly  had  Richelieu  assumed  power, 
when  he  not  only  took  the  Orisons  under  his  pro- 
tection, but  he  summarily  chased  away  the  papal 
troops,  to  whom  had  been  assigned  the  possession 
of  some  fortresses  in  the  Valtelline.  The  war  was 
brief,  and  Richelieu,  having  seen  fit  to  espouse  the 
cause  of  the  Orisons,  soon  saw  fit  to  abandon  it,  and 
made  terms  with  Spain  without  consultation  with 
his  allies. 

It  is  not  just  to  charge  the  minister  with  bad 
faith  in  this  matter,  though  such  charges  were  freely 
made  by  those  whose  quarrels  had  been  espoused 
by  France  and  who  found  themselves  deserted  by 
their  ally.  Richelieu  saw  clearly  that  it  was  impos- 
sible for  France  to  take  an  active  part  in  foreign 
politics,  or  hold  a  commanding  position  in  Europe, 
until  the  Government  was  free  from  internal  dis- 

- — x 

order.      Even    during  the    brief  campaign   in  the    ) 
Valtelline,  some  of   the  Huguenot  cities  were  in    \ 
insurrection,  and  sought  the  assistance  of  England    J 
in  a  contest  with  their  own  sovereign.      Richelieu's/ 
interference  in  European  politics  was  for 'the-jriosy 
part  in  behalt  61  Protestant  states,  not  indeed  from 
any  sympatlTy  with  their  faith,  but  from  jealousy  of 
the  great   Catholic   powers.     It   was   discouraging 
when  such  a  policy  was  hampered  by  the  unruliness 
of  French  Protestants,  and  the  minister  resolved  to 
quell  rebellion  at  home  before  he  again  undertook 
war  abroad.     In  truth,  the  position  of  the  Hugue- 
nots was  incompatible  with  a  strong  Government ; 

6 


82  Richelieu  [1624- 

it  rendered  it  impossible  for  France  to  exert  her  full 
strength ;  it  left  the  State  crippled  by  the  constant 
recurrence  of  internal  disturbance.  It  was  Riche- 
lieu's firm  resolve  that  the  anarchy  of  misrule  should 
be  succeeded  by  the  order  of  a  vigorous  Government, 
that  he  would  have  peace  at  home,  that  the  soil  of 
France  should  not  be  devastated  by  civil  war,  and 
that  both  prince  and  Protestant  should  in  the  future 
yield  an  unhesitating  obedience  to  the  commands  of 
the  central  authority. 

Of  the  problems  he  had  to  meet,  none  was  more 
serious  than  the  proper  treatment  of  the  Huguenot 
party.  During  the  sixteenth  century,  dissent  from 
the  Catholic  Church  had  spread  in  France  with  the 
same  rapidity  as  in  many  parts  of  Europe.  It  was 
in  the  southern  portions  of  the  kingdom  that  the 
reformed  faith  made  the  greatest  progress.  Whether 
the  tendency  to  new  doctrines  which  had  developed 
in  the  former  dominions  of  the  counts  of  Toulouse 
still  remained  in  the  population  of  Southern  France, 
whether  dissent  found  a  soil  prepared  for  it  in  the 
descendants  of  Albigenses  and  Troubadours,  and 
flourished  among  the  sunny  fields  and  olive  trees  of 
Languedoc  and  Provence,  the  adherents  of  the  new 
creed  in  many  districts  were  in  the  majority.  Dis- 
sent existed  in  the  north  as  well  as  in  the  south,  but 
in  the  northern  provinces  the  bulk  of  the  population 
was  Catholic. 

Though  the  great  majority  of  the  French  people 
remained  constant  to  their  traditional  faith,  the 
House  of  Navarre  was  Protestant,  and  the  accession 
of  Henry  IV.  to  the  throne  excited  in  the  Protestant 


1629]     Overthrow  of  the  Huguenot  Party        83 

party  the  hope  that  it  might  become  the  domin- 
ant power  in  the  State.  That  judicious  monarch 
preferred  peace  and  an  unquestioned  title  to  the 
tenets  of  any  theological  system,  and  his  renuncia- 
tion of  Calvinism  discouraged  the  ambitious  hopes 
of  his  followers. 

An  element  of  large  importance  in  the  growth  of 
Protestantism  in  France  had  been  the  extent  to 
which  the  nobility  abandoned  the  ancient  creed.  It 
was  probably  political  ambition  rather  than  any  deep 
study  of  the  Fathers  that  accounted  for  their  change 
of  belief.  There  was  not  indeed  in  France  the 
opportunity  to  appropriate  lands  of  the  Church 
which  led  German  princes  into  the  paths  of  heresy, 
but  many  a  French  noble,  disappointed  in  his  hopes 
and  discontented  with  the  Court,  rallied  to  the  sup- 
port of  a  new  party  that  furnished  not  only  theo- 
logical truth,  but  opportunities  for  turbulence. 

The  accession  of  these  noble  allies  was  originally 
a  source  of  strength,  but  in  time  it  became  an  ele- 
ment of  weakness.  Such  leaders  were  ready  to 
draw  the  Protestants  into  insurrections  which  had 
no  motive  but  their  own  ambition,  and  the  Hugue- 
not party  became  an  unruly  political  organisation. 
During  the  wars  of  religion  they  were  banded  to- 
gether for  the  defence  of  their  lives  and  their  religion, 
but  they  clung  to  the  measures  that  had  been  neces- 
sary for  their  protection  in  the  days  of  the  League 
and  the  Guises,  when  the  necessity  for  them  no  longer 
existed.  Though  Henry  IV.  abjured  the  creed  of 
his  youth,  he  was  not  unmindful  of  his  faithful  fol- 
lowers: by  the  Edict  of  Nantes  he  secured  for  them 


84  Richelieu  [1624- 

the  exercise  of  their  religion  in  those  parts  of  France 
in  which  it  was  actually  established ;  they  were 
allowed  to  worship  God  and  pursue  their  avocations 
without  unreasonable  hindrance.  With  this,  the 
Huguenots  might  well  have  been  content,  and  by  a 
discreet  conduct  they  might  possibly  have  averted 
the  persecutions  which  they  suffered  under  Louis 
XIV.  and  his  successors. 

The  Edict  of  Nantes  was  confirmed  after  Henry's 
death,  and  its  provisions  were  carried  out  with  rea- 
sonable good  faith.  Such  a  measure  of  toleration 
from  a  dominant  creed  was  rare  in  those  days.  In 
England,  a  Catholic  could  observe  the  usages  of  his 
faith  only  in  secret  and  in  peril  of  his  life ;  in  almost 
every  part  of  Europe,  whether  Catholic  or  Protest- 
ant, it  was  required  that  the  religion  of  the  King 
should  be  the  religion  of  his  subjects.  Nor  had  the 
principles  of  toleration  as  yet  entered  deeply  into 
the  French  mind ;  if  the  Edict  of  Nantes  was 
respected  as  a  necessity,  it  was  not  viewed  with 
favour  by  most  Catholics.  The  Huguenots  were  at 
times  subjected  to  the  annoyances  that  are  inevita- 
ble when  a  minority  practises  a  faith  that  is  distaste- 
ful to  the  majority  of  the  population.  The  rights 
secured  by  the  Edict  were  grudgingly  accorded ;  a 
zealous  priest  would  sometimes  seek  to  convert 
Huguenot  heretics  by  questionable  methods;  a 
fanatical  mob  would  sometimes  disturb  Huguenot 
rites  by  open  violence.  Yet  there  was  no  effort  to 
revoke  the  Edict,  and  no  interference  on  the  part  of 
the  Government  with  the  rights  which  it  secured. 

But  the  conduct  of  the  Huguenots  was  not  such 


1629]     Overthrow  of  the  Huguenot  Party        85 

as  to  obtain  the  favour  of  a  Government  which,  at 
best,  looked  upon  them  with  suspicion.  They  had 
long  been  in  possession  of  a  considerable  number  of 
fortified  towns,  mostly  in  Southern  France;  by  the 
Edict  these  were  left  in  their  charge,  and  they  were 
also  allowed,  with  the  permission  of  the  King,  to 
continue  the  synods  and  assemblies  in  which  they 
had  been  wont  to  discuss  affairs  of  both  Church  and 
State.  In  the  years  following  the  death  of  Henry 
IV.,  the  Protestants  held  several  of  those  assemblies, 
usually  without  the  permission  of  the  Government, 
and  they  preserved  and  sought  to  perfect  their  mili- 
tary and  political  organisation.  The  territory,  in 
which  they  were  strong,  was  divided  into  circles,  the 
command  of  each  of  which  was  given  to  some  power- 
ful noble,  and  preparations  were  made  for  levying 
and  equipping  troops,  and  for  raising  money  to 
carry  on  war  in  case  of  need.  Naturally  the  aid  of 
such  an  organisation  was  sought  by  anyone  in  insur- 
rection against  the  Government ;  their  assistance 
was  solicited  by  Cond6  and  by  the  Queen-mother 
in  their  troubles,  and  the  Huguenots  showed  a  read- 
iness to  take  part  in  quarrels  in  which  the  defence 
of  their  faith  was  in  no  wise  involved. 

It  was  impossible  that  the  existence  of  a  great 
religious  party,  holding  its  separate  councils,  in 
which  not  only  questions  of  theology  were  dis- 
cussed, the  principles  of  Calvin  and  the  iniquities  of 
the  papacy,  but  in  which  matters  of  state  were  con- 
sidered, preparations  made  for  war,  and  armies  levied, 
should  fail  to  excite  the  jealousy  and  ill-will  of  any 
Government.  If  this  was  not  a  state  within  a  state, 


86  Richelieu  [1624- 

it  was  something  very  like  it,  and  it  was  certain  that 
when  a  man  like  Richelieu  was  at  the  helm,  either 
the  Protestants  must  secure  a  practical  independ- 
ence by  force,  or  accept  their  lot  with  other  citizens, 
be  subject  to  the  same  laws,  and  surrender  any  pre- 
tence of  a  separate  political  organisation. 

The  Huguenots  had  several  times  taken  up  arms 
since  the  death  of  Henry  IV.,  usually,  though  not 
always,  on  the  plea  of  some  violated  privilege. 
They  wished  to  worship  God  according  to  their 
xown  conscience,  but  they  wished  also  to  preserve 
their  political  position,  to  hold  their  cities  of  de- 
fence, to  be  able  to  raise  and  equip  armies,  and 
to  declare  war  if  they  deemed  it  expedient.  Even 
if  entire  freedom  of  conscience  were  cheerfully 
granted,  the  existence  of  a  powerful  and  unruly  ele- 
ment was  distasteful  to  all  who  believed  that  a  strong 
Government  was  required  for  the  development  of 
the  State,  and  it  was  inconsistent  with  the  concep- 
tions that  were  the  basis  of  Richelieu's  policy. 

In  the  later  years  of  Luines's  rule,  the  King  was 
at  war  with  his  Protestant  subjects,  a  war  brought 
on  in  part  by  Luines's  maladroit  bigotry,  in  part  by 
the  readiness  of  the  Huguenots  to  accept  a  quarrel 
and  leave  it  to  the  issue  of  arms.  When  Richelieu 
became  prime  minister,  it  was  soon  evident  that  his 
policy  was  not  to  be  governed  by  considerations  of 
religion ;  he  allied  himself  with  Protestant  cantons, 
he  expelled  the  papal  troops,  and  made  war  upon 
Spain.  He  did  not  expect  to  be  embarrassed  by 
the  Huguenots  when  he  was  carrying  on  war  in 
defence  of  their  religious  brethren.  Yet  hardly  had 


16291     Overthrow  of  the  Huguenot  Party        87 

Richelieu  resolved  to  interfere  in  behalf  of  the 
Orisons,  when  some  of  the  Huguenot  leaders  were 
again  in  revolt,  and  their  action  was  supported  by 
the  city  of  La  Rochelle,  the  stronghold  of  the 
Huguenot  party.  They  were  most  ill-advised  in 
choosing  this  time  for  stirring  up  insurrection. 
Richelieu  was  convinced,  and  justly  convinced,  that 
France  could  not  hold  a  position  of  leadership  in 
European  politics  until  internal  tranquillity  was 
assured ;  he  could  not  carry  on  war  with  Spain  and 
Germany  when  it  was  possible  that  his  troops  might, 
at  any  time,  be  withdrawn  to  enforce  order  in  Lan- 
guedoc  and  Provence.  He  patched  up  a  hasty  peace 
both  with  Spain  and  with  the  Huguenots,  but  it 
needed  no  prophet  to  see  that  the  so-called  peace 
was  only  a  temporary  truce.  The  Cardinal  declared 
that  it  was  necessary  to  wait  the  time  when  he  could 
reduce  the  Huguenots  to  the  obedience  in  which  all 
subjects  of  the  King  should  dwell.  The  opportunity 
was  not  long  deferred.  It  was  early  in  1626  that 
articles  of  pacification  were  signed  between  the  King 
and  the  people  of  La  Rochelle.  In  the  following 
year,  the  great  struggle  began  in  which  the  political 
power  of  the  Huguenots  in  France  was  for  ever 
overthrown. 

The  terms  of  peace  to  which  Richelieu  consented 
were  distasteful  to  all  parties.  The  Cardinal  was  re- 
solved to  destroy  the  military  power  of  the  Hugue- 
not party,  and  reluctantly  postponed  the  effort.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Protestants  had  many  griev- 
ances: the  people  of  La  Rochelle  demanded  the 
demolition  of  the  strong  fortress  of  St.  Louis,  which 


88  Richelieu  [1624- 

was  a  perpetual  menace  to  their  town ;  the  inhabit- 
ants of  B£arn  bore  with  impatience  the  presence  of 
Catholic  priests,  which,  though  secured  by  the  Edict 
of  Nantes,  had  only  recently  been  enforced  by  the 
Government;  the  dismantling  of  many  fortified 
towns  was  a  source  of  bitterness  to  eager  religionists 
who  believed  that  the  safety  of  their  faith  could  only 
be  secured  by  practical  independence  of  a  Catholic 
sovereign.  Between  the  Government  and  the 
Huguenot  party  there  was  an  irrepressible  conflict, 
but  the  final  struggle  was  precipitated  by  the  weak 
ambition  of  a  trifler. 

,  In  1624,  Charles  I.  married  Henrietta  of  France, 
Xja  sister  of  Louis  XIII.  The  French  hoped  that 
this  alliance  would  not  only  promote  amity  between 
their  country  and  England,  but  would  secure  some 
indulgence  for  persecuted  Catholics.  In  both  an- 
ticipations they  were  disappointed.  The  alliance 
was  followed  by  constant  bickerings  over  the  non- 
observance  of  some  of  the  conditions  of  the  marriage 
contract.  The  French  complained  that  the  servants 
of  Henrietta  were  dismissed,  that  she  was  harshly 
treated,  and  that  the  lot  of  the  English  Catholics 
became  worse  instead  of  better.  The  English  re- 
plied that  the  French  had  failed  to  perform  the 
conditions  of  the  marriage  agreement,  that  the 
Huguenots  were  ill-treated,  and  that  Richelieu's 
foreign  policy  was  tricky  and  deceitful. 

The  Duke  of  Buckingham  was  then  at  the  height 
of  his  favour,  and  he  had  been  sent  to  Paris  to  re- 
ceive the  French  bride  in  his  master's  behalf.  In  a 
Court  accustomed  to  magnificent  display,  Bucking- 


1629]     Overthrow  of  the  Huguenot  Party        89 

ham  excited  attention  by  the  gorgeousness  of  his 
dress,  the  charm  of  his  manner,  and  the  prodigality 
with  which  he  threw  away  his  money.  The  gossips 
declared  that  this  handsome  cavalier  aroused  a  strong 
interest  in  the  French  Queen,  Anne  of  Austria,  and 
he  was  vain  and  indiscreet  enough  to  complicate  the 
relations  of  the  two  countries  by  a  gallantry  that 
was  distasteful  to  the  French  King.  Anne  wasted 
no  love  on  her  husband,  who  not  only  wasted  no 
love  on  her,  but  was  singularly  unfitted  to  excite 
affection  even  if  he  had  desired  it.  Doubtless  she 
was  pleased  by  Buckingham's  devotion,  and  this  was 
quite  enough  to  make  it  displeasing  to  the  King  and 
the  Cardinal.  When  Buckingham  again  wished  to 
visit  Paris,  he  was  informed  that  he  would  be  a  per- 
sona non grata.  The  Duke  did  not  incite  war  merely 
to  gratify  a  foolish  pique,  though  unquestionably 
this  had  some  influence  on  his  action.  But  the  rela- 
tions between  the  two  powers  were  fast  drifting  into 
open  war:  English  cruisers  under  various  pretexts 
seized  French  ships  and  made  prizes  of  them ; 
the  English  King  complained  of  the  treatment  the 
Huguenots  received  from  Louis,  and  charged  the 
French  King  with  failing  to  keep  his  promises. 
Buckingham  knew  that  a  war  in  behalf  of  their 
French  co-religionists  would  be  popular  among  the 
English;  he  hoped  to  gain  for  himself  the  glory  of 
defeating  England's  traditional  enemies,  and,  in 
July,  1627,  at  the  head  of  a  large  fleet,  he  sailed  to 
La  Rochelle. 

The  avowed  motives  of  this  expedition  were  to 
procure  for  the  Huguenots  the  rights  to  which  they 


QO  Richelieu  [1624- 

were  entitled,  and  to  secure  for  the  people  of  La 
Rochelle  the  destruction  of  the  fortress  of  St.  Louis, 
which  they  had  long  demanded.  The  English  at 
once  effected  a  landing  on  the  island  of  Re,  which 
lay  outside  the  harbour  of  La  Rochelle,  and  began 
the  siege  of  the  fort  of  St.  Martin.  If  Buckingham 
had  conducted  his  campaign  with  vigour  and  intel- 
ligence, he  could  speedily  have  captured  the  fort 
and  obtained  entire  possession  of  the  island.  He 
could  then  have  kept  up  communications  with  La 
Rochelle  on  the  mainland,  and  it  would  have  been 
almost  impossible  for  the  French  to  drive  him  from 
his  position,  or  force  the  city  to  surrender.  But  a 
contest  in  which  Buckingham  and  Richelieu  were 
the  respective  leaders  was  a  very  unequal  one.  No 
sooner  was  it  known  that  the  English  had  effected  a 
landing  than  the  Cardinal  showed  what  could  be  ac- 
complished by  indomitable  resolution.  While  the 
English  proceeded  leisurely  with  the  siege,  all  was 
activity  on  the  part  of  the  French.  Louis  was  sick, 
and  they  hesitated  to  inform  him  of  this  unexpected 
declaration  of  war,  lest  anxiety  should  aggravate  his 
malady.  But  the  real  king  did  not  wait  for  the 
recovery  of  the  nominal  King:  he  at  once  collected 
an  army  and  sent  it  to  the  relief  of  the  French  be- 
sieged in  St.  Martin ;  he  gathered  supplies,  and 
offered  great  rewards  to  those  who  would  convey 
them  to  the  fort ;  he  pledged  his  own  money  and 
credit  to  those  who  were  unwilling  to  trust  the 
slow  and  uncertain  payment  that  often  awaited  the 
creditors  of  the  State. 

When    Richelieu   assumed   power,  there  was   no 


1629]     Overthrow  of  the  Huguenot  Party       91 

French  navy  in  existence.  He  had  borrowed  the 
ships  of  England  and  of  Holland  in  the  early  strug- 
gles in  which  he  was  engaged ;  he  now  sought  the 
assistance  of  the  Dutch  and  Spanish  in  his  conflict 
with  England.  But  the  Dutch  were  loath  to  give 
any  assistance  in  a  contest  that  was  really  waged 
against  their  Protestant  brethren  in  France.  The 
Spanish  had  indeed  no  sympathy  with  heresy,  but 
their  hatred  of  heretics  was  much  weaker  than  their 
jealousy  of  the  French.  They  sent  a  fleet  to  La 
Rochelle,  nominally  to  assist  their  French  allies. 
The  Marquis  of  Spinosa  visited  the  French  camp 
and  was  received  with  great  honours,  but  all  this 
amounted  to  nothing,  and  the  Spanish  fleet  presently 
sailed  back  to  Spain,  leaving  Louis  to  subdue  his 
Huguenot  rebels  as  best  he  could.  '  They  have," 
said  Richelieu,  in  his  rage,  "  God  and  the  Virgin  in 
their  mouths,  their  beads  in  their  hands,  but  only 
their  own  temporal  interests  in  their  hearts." 

Practically  the  English  were  in  command  of  the 
sea,  and  they  kept  so  close  a  watch  over  Fort  St. 
Martin  that  Buckingham  boasted  that  only  the  birds 
of  heaven  could  reach  it.  The  boast  was  not  veri- 
fied. "  God  willed  the  matter  otherwise,"  the 
Cardinal  piously  remarked,  but  he  might  have  at- 
tributed the  result  to  his  own  exertions. 

The  English  ships  watched  the  Channel,  and  they 
also  erected  a  barricade,  which  it  was  hoped  would 
prevent  the  passage  of  any  boats  coming  to  the 
relief  of  the  besieged.  These  precautions  were  in 
vain;  the  Cardinal  inspired  the  French  soldiers 
with  his  own  zeal,  and  the  hope  of  wealth,  as  well 


92  Richelieu  [1624- 

as  feelings  of  patriotism,  urged  them  to  action ;  he 
offered  ten  thousand  crowns  to  anyone  who  would 
convey  to  the  garrison  provisions  for  two  months ; 
divers  who  made  their  way  from  the  fort  to  the 
mainland  were  pensioned,  and  the  leaders  of  relief 
expeditions  were  rewarded  with  unprecedented  lib- 
erality. The  coast  was  a  dangerous  one,  and  the 
autumnal  storms  furnished  opportunities  for  evading 
the  vigilance  of  the  English  to  those  who  were  will- 
ing to  risk  their  lives  in  the  hope  of  gain.  The 
commander  at  St.  Martin  sent  word  that  in  a  few 
days  starvation  would  compel  him  to  surrender, 
but  on  a  stormy  night  in  September  a  number  of 
pinnaces,  laden  with  supplies,  made  their  way 
through  the  English  ships  and  brought  temporary 
relief.  A  little  later  a  larger  force  with  reinforce- 
ments and  abundant  supplies  started  for  the  fort. 
With  his  usual  fondness  for  ecclesiastical  warriors, 
Richelieu  had  sent  the  Bishop  of  Mende  to  superin- 
tend the  preparations ;  mass  was  said,  and  the  lit- 
tle boats  set  sail  with  the  Episcopal  benediction. 
Thus  fortified,  they  succeeded  in  reaching  their 
destination  with  small  loss.  The  fort  was  now 
amply  supplied.  The  besieged  hung  over  the  ram- 
parts bottles  of  wine,  hams,  capons,  and  other 
articles  of  food,  to  show  the  good  cheer  that  pre- 
vailed within. 

Buckingham  had  put  his  reliance  on  starving  out 
the  French,  and  he  now  found  himself  in  a  more 
needy  situation  than  they.  R£  was  a  barren  island, 
and  a  prudent  general  would  have  seized  the  neigh- 
bouring island  of  Oleron,  where  abundant  supplies 


1629]     Overthrow  of  the  Huguenot  Party       93 

could  have  been  obtained.  But  this  had  been 
neglected  until  Richelieu  had  strengthened  the 
garrison,  and  they  were  instructed,  if  driven  out, 
not  only  to  lay  the  island  waste,  but  to  poison  the 
wells,  that  the  English  might  derive  no  advantage 
from  its  possession.  Buckingham  now  attempted 
to  carry  St.  Martin's  by  storm,  bjjt  he  was  not  suc- 
cessful, and  on  the  i/th  of  November  he  ignomin- 
iously  abandoned  his  undertaking  and  set  sail  for 
England.  Of  the  eight  thousand  men  he  had 
brought  with  him,  only  twelve  hundred  were  left 
besides  the  sick  and  wounded.  '  The  King,"  said 
Richelieu,  triumphantly,  "  saw  his  enemies  fly  in 
shame  before  him  to  hide  themselves  in  the  caverns 
of  their  island." 

Buckingham's  unfortunate  expedition  had  in- 
volved the  Huguenot  party  in  war  with  the  Govern- 
ment. The  people  of  La  Rochelle  had  at  first 
hesitated  about  forming  an  alliance  with  the  Eng- 
lish; staunch  as  was  their  Protestantism,  they  were 
equally  staunch  in  their  patriotism.  But  ambitious 
leaders  urged  that  this  was  the  last  opportunity  for 
deliverance;  they  decided  to  join  forces  with  those 
who  professed  to  come  to  their  aid,  and  in  this  de- 
cision they  were  followed  by  the  entire  Protestant 
party  of  France. 

Richelieu  resolved,  therefore,  to  lay  siege  to  the 
city  and  by  its  capture  to  overthrow,  once  for  all, 
the  Protestant  party  as  an  element  in  French  poli- 
tics. The  difficulties  of  the  undertaking  were  great, 
and  he  did  not  disguise  them  from  his  master,  but 
he  advised  him  that  now  was  an  opportunity,  which 


94  Richelieu  [1624- 

might  never  return,  to  destroy  the  stronghold  of 
Protestantism  in  France. 

La  Rochelle  was  a  place  of  importance  from  its 
size  as  well  as  its  strength.  It  boasted  a  population 
of  between  thirty  and  forty  thousand,  at  a  time 
when  few  French  cities  contained  fifty  thousand 
people.  It  had  acquired  commercial  importance 
from  the  possession  of  a  large  and  safe  harbour,  and 
its  citizens  were  largely  sailors  and  fishermen, — in 
the  past  often  pirates  and  privateers, — and  reputed 
the  best  mariners  in  France,  bold,  hardy,  and  resol- 
ute. They  had  long  been  intensely  Protestant  in 
their  faith.  Refusing  to  others  the  toleration  they 
demanded  for  themselves,  the  Rochellois  would  al- 
low no  Catholic  service  in  their  city;  no  idolatrous 
mass  corrupted  the  pure  air  of  the  town. 

They  enjoyed  special  political  as  well  as  religious 
privileges,  which  were  dear  to  a  hardy  and  an  unruly 
people,  and  offensive  to  the  centralising  tendencies 
of  Richelieu.  For  five  hundred  years  La  Rochelle 
had  been  a  walled  town,  and  the  services  of  its 
people  against  the  English  had  been  rewarded  by 
promises  that  no  faille  or  impost  should  be  levied 
on  them  without  their  consent.  The  French  king- 
dom, formed  by  conquest,  bargain,  and  inheritance, 
was  imperfectly  welded  together,  but  La  Rochelle 
was  singularly  free  from  the  control  of  the  central 
Government.  Its  citizens  were  not  bound  to  serve 
in  the  royal  army  except  when  the  safety  of  their 
city  required ;  they  chose  their  own  municipal  offic- 
ers; their  mayor  was  vested  with  a  great  authority 
which  had  been  secured,  so  the  people  of  La 


1629]     Overthrow  of  the  Huguenot  Party       95 

Rochelle  boasted,  by  a  grant  from  Queen  Eleanor 
in  1199;  no  local  representative  of  the  King  dwelt 
among  them ;  no  garrison  could  be  stationed  in 
the  town.  When  they  wished  to  begin  a  revolt, 
they  had  only  to  lock  the  gates  of  their  city;  there 
were  neither  troops  nor  servants  of  the  King  to 
expel. 

The  practical  independence  asserted  by  the  Ro- 
chellois  was  supported  by  the  great  strength  of  the 
place.  All  around  it  stretched  vast  morasses,  trav- 
ersed only  by  narrow  causeways.  It  was  impossible 
for  an  enemy  to  approach  the  city  except  over  nar- 
row roads,  where  an  army  could  be  repelled  by  a 
small  body  of  resolute  men.  The  town  itself  was 
surrounded  by  massive  fortifications;  great  bastions 
at  the  corners  completed  the  works,  and  the  pious 
inhabitants  had  given  them  names  which  indicated 
their  religious  confidence.  The  Bastion  of  the  Gos- 
pel was  of  special  strength,  and  its  defenders  could 
well  hope  that  the  Lord  would  never  suffer  it  to  be 
beaten  down.  There  was  little  danger  from  the  sea, 
for  the  marine  of  the  city  was  considerable  in  num- 
bers, and  the  French  King  had  no  ships  of  war  of 
which  they  need  be  afraid. 

As  the  great  nobles  deserted  the  Protestant  faith, 
the  city  of  La  Rochelle  steadily  assumed  a  more 
important  place  in  the  councils  of  the  party,  and 
for  many  years  its  representatives  had  exerted  a 
great  and  almost  a  controlling  influence  on  its  de- 
liberations. This  strongly  fortified  city,  with  its 
hardy  and  resolute  population,  inspired  courage  in 
those  of  the  reformed  faith ;  its  overthrow  would 


96  Richelieu  [1624- 

not  only  discourage  the  hopes  but  to  a  large  extent 
destroy  the  organisation  of  the  Huguenot  party. 

For  this  great  enterprise  Richelieu  summoned 
every  resource  which  his  energy  could  command. 
In  so  pious  an  undertaking,  he  demanded  the  assist- 
ance of  spiritual  as  well  as  of  earthly  weapons.  The 
clergy  were  asked  for  contributions,  the  Pope  was 
besought  to  regard  this  war  as  a  crusade,  to  grant 
plenary  indulgence  to  all  who  took  part  in  it,  and 
even  to  those  who  would  contribute  to  the  cause  so 
little  as  twenty  sous;  and  in  addition  to  these  spirit- 
ual rewards,  he  was  asked  to  grant  them  permission 
to  eat  cheese  and  eggs  during  Lent.  To  this  request 
the  Pope  declined  to  accede,  lest  he  should  lessen 
the  devotion  which  French  Catholics  showed  in 
their  Lenten  observances;  but  plenary  indulgence 
was  accorded  to  those  who  would  serve  in  the  war, 
and  the  Church  contributed  liberally  towards  the 
expense. 

An  army  of  twenty-five  thousand  men  was  soon 
gathered  around  the  devoted  city,  and  of  it  the 
Cardinal,  in  fact,  though  not  in  name,  was  com- 
mander-in-chief.  He  was  by  no  means  the  only 
ecclesiastic  in  the  service :  he  had  bishops  as  generals 
and  friars  as  emissaries  and  lieutenants,  and  all  this 
religious  soldiery  reported  to  the  priest  who  was  the 
general-in-chief.  The  commander,  in  the  red  hat  of 
a  cardinal,  was  surrounded  by  a  staff  in  mitre  and 
frock.  No  soldiers  bred  to  the  trade  were  more 
zealous  than  these  religious  warriors;  the  Bishop 
of  Mende  died  during  the  siege,  and  his  last  request 
to  his  associates  was  that  they  should  bury  his 


1629]     Overthrow  of  the  Huguenot  Party       97 

remains  in  La  Rochelle.  The  Cardinal  imposed  a 
discipline  rare  in  those  days:  no  marauding  was 
allowed,  the  soldiers  were  regularly  paid,  and  in 
turn  were  allowed  no  license.  The  camp,  said  the 
Cardinal,  was  like  a  well-ordered  convent,  and  the 
host  of  ecclesiastics  who  fought  and  catechised  in 
turn  added  force  to  his  metaphor. 

It  was  with  good  reason  that  Richelieu  was  zeal- 
ous in  the  siege,  for  his  own  fate,  as  well  as  that  of 
the  Protestant  party  in  France,  was  involved  in  the 
result.  The  power  which  he  held,  and  the  vigour 
with  which  he  exercised  it,  had  already  excited 
many  enemies,  and  among  them  those  who  were 
nearest  to  the  King.  Louis's  wife  had  always  dis- 
liked Richelieu,  and  with  good  reason,  for  he  had 
shown  her  small  consideration  and  was  jealous  of 
any  influence  she  might  exert  over  the  King.  It 
was  not  at  all  likely  that  Louis  would  ever  be  in  any 
way  influenced  by  his  wife,  for  whom  he  had  small 
regard,  but  his  mother  was  a  more  dangerous  enemy. 

To  the  steadfast  favour  of  Mary  de'  Medici  Riche- 
lieu owed  his  elevation,  but  this  amity  was  fast  turn- 
ing into  enmity;  the  Queen-mother  had  anticipated 
a  large  share  in  the  Government  of  which  her  favour- 
ite would  be  the  nominal  head;  she  soon  found  that 
Richelieu  had  no  thought  of  dividing  authority  with 
anyone.  As  the  siege  slowly  progressed,  Louis 
wearied  of  its  monotony  and  wished  to  return  to 
Paris.  The  Cardinal  was  loath  to  give  his  consent, 
but  he  feared  to  incur  the  King's  ill  humour  by 
advising  him  to  stay.  Accordingly,  Louis  left  the 
camp,  and  at  Paris  he  was  surrounded  by  those  who 


98  Richelieu  [1624- 

sought  to  make  life  agreeable  to  him,  and  to  in- 
timate that  it  would  be  much  more  agreeable  if  he 
would  rid  himself  of  his  imperious  minister.  If  the 
siege  had  resulted  in  failure  it  is  not  likely  that 
Richelieu  would  have  retained  his  place, — he  needed 
a  record  of  success  to  which  he  could  appeal.  Louis 
was  by  no  means  indifferent  to  glory,  and  when  the 
minister  could  point  to  great  achievements,  he  need 
not  fear  the  attacks  of  his  enemies. 

If  La  Rochelle  were  taken,  and  the  Huguenot 
party  forced  to  yield  implicit  obedience  to  the  King, 
the  position  of  the  minister  would  be  so  strong  that 
he  could  look  with  indifference  at  the  ill-will  and 
hostile  criticism  of  Louis's  relatives,  favourites, 
courtiers,  and  confessors.  "  I  think  we  shall  be 
foolish  enough  to  take  La  Rochelle,"  said  an  officer 
who  did  not  love  the  Cardinal;  and  his  prophecy 
was  verified. 

In  spite  of  the  size  of  the  army  camped  around 
the  city,  no  serious  attempt  was  made  to  capture  it 
by  storm.  With  the  implements  of  warfare  that 
then  existed,  a  town  so  strongly  situated  and 
so  strongly  fortified  was  practically  impregnable. 
Richelieu  could  only  trust  to  the  slow  progress  of 
famine  by  which  to  overcome  the  heroic  obstinacy 
of  the  Rochellois,  and  his  efforts  were  turned  to 
instituting  so  strict  a  blockade  that  no  provisions 
could  reach  the  besieged. 

It  was  comparatively  easy  to  prevent  the  entry  of 
provisions  into  La  Rochelle  by  land,  but  to  cut  off 
their  supplies  by  water  was  a  far  more  difficult  task. 
However,  the  departure  of  Buckingham  left  them 


16291     Overthrow  of  the  Huguenot  Party       99 

dependent  upon  their  own  ships  to  keep  the  harbour 
open.  By  chartering  boats  in  every  part  of  France, 
Richelieu  gathered  a  considerable  naval  force,  and 
with  its  assistance  he  resolved  to  close  the  harbour 
by  the  construction  of  a  great  dike  that  would  pre- 
vent the  passage  of  ships  of  any  size.  The  under- 
taking was  one  of  enormous  difficulty.  The  sea  in 
this  region  was  a  stormy  one  at  best,  and  the  work 
was  to  be  done  in  winter,  when  high  winds  fre- 
quently endangered  the  lives  of  the  labourers  and 
threatened  to  sweep  away  all  they  had  accomplished. 
But  no  difficulties  discouraged  the  Cardinal ;  he  soon 
had  a  great  force  working  in  the  water,  engaged  on 
the  construction  of  the  dike,  and  he  stimulated  them 
by  promises  of  high  pay.  The  men  were  paid  so 
much  for  each  basketful  of  material  which  they  de- 
livered, and  the  rate  was  so  liberal  that  a  diligent 
man  could  earn  twenty  sous  a  day,  more  than  double 
the  ordinary  wages  of  a  labourer. 

The  people  of  the  city  did  what  they  could  to 
interfere  with  the  progress  of  the  work,  but  their 
trust  was  more  in  the  elements  than  in  their  own 
strength.  On  the  loth  of  January,  so  furious  a 
storm  raged  that  a  considerable  part  of  the  dike  was 
carried  away,  but  such  obstacles  hindered  without 
preventing  its  completion.  Week  after  week,  in 
defiance  of  storm  and  cold  and  stress  of  weather,  the 
work  went  on,  and  at  last,  by  March,  1628,  the  har- 
bour was  practically  closed.  The  dike  was  almost 
a  mile  in  length,  constructed  of  great  stones,  some 
of  which  can  still  be  seen ;  the  opening  at  the  cen- 
tre was  guarded  by  a  floating  stockade,  and  was 


ioo  Richelieu  [1624- 

vigilantly  watched.  The  people  of  La  Rochelle  had 
asked  Buckingham  to  furnish  them  with  sufficient 
supplies,  but  he  had  neglected  to  do  so.  As  com- 
munication with  the  city  became  difficult  and  at  last 
almost  impossible,  and  the  months  went  slowly  on, 
the  supply  of  food  became  more  and  more  scanty. 
Still  there  was  no  thought  of  surrender.  The  mayor 
of  the  city  was  one  Jean  Guiton,  a  hardy  and  resol- 
ute mariner.  When  elected  to  the  office,  he  had 
laid  his  dagger  upon  the  table  and  said  that  was  for 
the  person  who  should  first  suggest  surrender.  Nor 
were  the  women  any  less  resolute  than  the  men. 
The  Duchess  of  Rohan  was  in  the  city,  a  woman 
well  over  seventy,  and  living  on  starvation  fare  like 
those  of  humbler  rank.  She  was  active  in  the  coun- 
cils of  the  town  and  her  voice  was  against  any  sur- 
render; they  sought,  so  she  wrote  her  son,  complete 
victory  or  an  honourable  death ;  and  at  the  end  of  a 
year's  siege,  those  who  were  left  alive  were  still 
hoping  that  the  Lord  would  deliver  his  own. 

It  was  idle  to  expect  that  the  other  French  Pro- 
testants could  successfully  attack  the  great  army 
Richelieu  had  collected,  but  Charles  I.,  it  was 
thought,  would  not  desert  those  in  whose  behalf  he 
had  taken  up  arms.  In  May,  1628,  an  English  fleet 
of  one  hundred  sail  appeared  in  the  bay,  under  the 
command  of  Buckingham's  brother-in-law,  the  Earl 
of  Denbigh.  The  starving  citizens  thought  that  re- 
lief was  now  near  at  hand,  but  their  joy  was  brief. 
Though  the  French  were  far  inferior  in  the  number 
and  quality  of  their  ships,  they  were  protected  by 
batteries  on  land,  and  back  of  them  lay  the  dike, 


1629]     Overthrow  of  the  Huguenot  Party      101 

through  which  a  passage  must  be  forced.  The  Eng- 
lish commander  surveyed  the  situation,  decided  that 
it  was  hopeless,  and,  almost  without  firing  a  gun,  he 
sailed  away  home. 

As  the  summer  progressed  and  the  besieged  were 
living  on  rats  and  boiled  skins,  some  advocated  sur- 
render as  the  only  escape  from  starvation.  They 
were  so  reduced  in  numbers  and  strength  that  an 
assaulting  party  would  have  met  with  little  but  the 
wall  itself  to  check  their  way.  Some  of  the  old 
men  and  women  and  children  had  asked  to  be 
allowed  to  pass  the  French  lines,  but  they  were 
pitilessly  driven  back;  the  authorities  of  the  town 
were  unwilling  to  feed  these  useless  mouths,  and 
many  of  them,  overcome  by  hunger  and  exhaustion, 
died  between  the  lines.  But  the  mayor  was  still  in- 
exorable. "  While  a  man  remains  to  keep  the  gate 
closed,  it  is  enough,"  he  said.  '  I  will  decide  by 
lot  with  anyone  which  of  us  shall  be  killed  to  feed 
the  survivor." 

Charles  had  pledged  his  royal  word  that  he  would 
relieve  the  people  of  La  Rochelle,  and  their  deputies 
now  earnestly  demanded  further  aid.  The  King 
was  ready  to  grant  it,  and  Buckingham  himself  was 
preparing  to  lead  a  new  expedition  when  he  was 
murdered  by  Felton.  The  assassin  had  served  as 
an  officer  in  the  first  expedition  to  R6;  he  had  been 
disappointed  in  obtaining  promotion  or  getting  his 
pay,  and  his  rancour  against  the  favourite  began 
with  that  ill-fated  undertaking.  And  so  Bucking- 
ham himself  fell  a  victim  of  the  unwise  war  which 
he  had  incited. 


IO2  Richelieu  [1624- 

Preparations  were  continued  notwithstanding 
Buckingham's  assassination,  and,  late  in  Septem- 
ber, a  powerful  fleet  of  140  ships,  carrying  six  thou- 
sand soldiers,  slowly  sailed  up  to  the  entrance  of  the 
harbour.  The  French  were  in  readiness  to  meet 
them.  Louis  had  returned  to  the  army,  and  Riche- 
lieu and  the  King  watched  from  the  shore  the  final 
effort  to  raise  the  long  siege,  while,  with  still  greater 
anxiety,  the  people  of  the  city  gazed  from  the  ram- 
parts at  a  contest  in  which  were  involved  their  civic 
independence,  their  religious  privileges,  and  perhaps 
their  lives.  Victory  was  again  on  Richelieu's  side, 
and  once  again  the  hopes  of  the  heroic  defenders  of 
the  town  were  disappointed.  The  English  made 
some  effort  to  force  their  way  into  the  harbour,  but 
they  were  not  successful.  After  two  days  of  desul- 
tory fighting  a  storm  arose  and  drove  them  back, 
and  they  sailed  away  to  England. 

Any  expectation  of  relief  had  now  disappeared, 
and  famine  had  done  its  perfect  work.  The  people 
of  the  city  had  long  been  reduced  to  the  last  ex- 
tremities of  hunger,  and  subsisted  on  the  vilest  food. 
When  horse-  and  dog-meat  were  gone,  they  sought 
nourishment  from  leather  straps,  from  boots  and 
sword  belts,  boiled  into  nauseous  messes  with  the 
scanty  greens  they  could  raise  within  the  fortifica- 
tions. Only  150  men  were  in  fit  condition  to  do 
military  service;  the  population  of  the  town  was 
diminished  by  half  —  fifteen  thousand  people  had 
perished  from  disease  an<j  starvation.  The  un- 
buried  dead  lay  scattered  about  the  streets  of  the 
city  as  the  deputies  at  last  started  for  the  royal  camp 


THE   CAPTURE  OF    LA    ROCHELLE. 

FROM    AN    ENGRAVING    BV   CHAVANE,    FROM    CONTEMPORARY    SOURCES. 


1629]     Overthrow  of  the  Huguenot  Party      103 

to  proffer  their  submission.  Even  then,  they  asked 
for  terms  of  surrender  which  would  secure  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  the  city  and  the  interests  of  the 
Huguenot  party.  But  the  time  was  past  for  condi- 
tions and  terms  of  peace ;  the  Cardinal  said  that  all 
that  was  left  for  them  was  to  submit  to  the  King's 
grace  and  hope  for  his  mercy. 

On  October  28,  1628,  after  a  siege  of  fifteen 
months,  La  Rochelle  surrendered.  The  citizens 
were  promised  security  for  their  lives  and  property 
and  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  but  the  power 
and  independence  of  the  city  were  forever  gone. 
Its  privileges  were  forfeited,  the  fortifications  were 
destroyed,  no  Protestant  could  thereafter  take  up  his 
residence  in  the  city,  its  municipal  government  was 
done  away  with,  and  it  was  placed  under  the  orders 
of  officers  of  the  King.  What  was  perhaps  most  dis- 
tressing to  its  people,  the  full  and  free  practice  of  the 
Catholic  religion  was  allowed  within  its  boundaries. 

On  All  Saints'  Day,  the  1st  of  November,  1628, 
the  King  made  his  solemn  entry  into  the  city.  The 
Cardinal  met  him  at  the  gate  and  handed  him  the 
keys  of  the  town,  and  he  then  celebrated  mass  at 
the  church  of  St.  Marguerite.  A  long  procession  of 
Capuchins  marched  through  the  streets,  singing  the 
Te  Dcum  in  honour  of  the  restoration  of  La  Rochelle 
to  Catholicism.  Six  days  later,  a  great  storm  carried 
away  a  large  part  of  the  dike,  and  the  English  fleet 
could  easily  have  entered  the  town  with  reinforce- 
ments and  supplies.  Richelieu  had  done  all  in  his 
power,  and  then  Fortune  favoured  him,  as  she  is 
wont  to  favour  those  who  deserve  her  smiles. 


IO4  Richelieu  11624- 

The  surrender  of  the  city  left  the  Cardinal  free  to 
proceed  against  the  Huguenots  in  Southern  France, 
but  for  a  little  while  he  was  obliged  to  defer  his 
plans  because  France  was  involved  in  an  Italian 
war.  The  Duke  of  Nevers,  a  French  nobleman, 
inherited  the  Italian  duchy  of  Mantua.  His  rights 
were  disputed  by  Spain  and  Savoy,  and  hostilities 
began  during  the  siege  of  La  Rochelle.  No  foreign 
complications  could  draw  Richelieu  from  his  deter- 
mination to  complete  his  conquest,  and  he  grimly 
waited  until  the  Rochellois  had  consumed  their  last 
boots  and  saddle-bags;  but  when  they  finally  suc- 
cumbed to  starvation,  Louis  and  Richelieu  at  once 
led  an  army  of  thirty  thousand  men  to  the  support 
of  the  new  Duke  of  Mantua.  Their  road  to  Italy 
was  by  the  Pass  of  Susa;  in  the  early  spring  the 
snow  lay  thick  on  the  path,  and  it  seemed  almost 
impossible  to  dislodge  the  forces  of  the  Duke  of 
Savoy.  But  the  French  attacked  them  with  great 
valour,  and  Louis  XIII.  on  this  occasion,  as  always 
in  life,  showed  himself  a  good  and  courageous 
soldier. 

When  the  French  had  forced  their  way  into  Italy, 
the  war  was  practically  ended,  and  Louis  returned 
to  France,  leaving  Richelieu  in  command.  The 
Cardinal  found  more  enjoyment  in  the  pursuit  of 
arms  than  in  saying  mass,  and  he  was  always  pleased 
to  pose  as  a  soldier  instead  of  a  priest.  A  witness  has 
described  his  appearance  at  a  conference  with  the 
Duke  of  Savoy.  He  was  equipped  in  a  cuirass  and 
full  military  dress,  with  a  white  plume  floating  from 
his  hat,  a  sword  by  his  side,  and  two  pistols  resting 


1629]     Overthrow  of  the  Huguenot  Party      105 

at  the  pommel  of  his  saddle,  and  in  this  warlike 
attire  he  rode  at  the  head  of  his  forces  on  a  spirited 
steed,  showing  manifest  pleasure  in  exhibiting  his 
skill  as  a  horseman. 

Whether  he  appeared  in  the  robes  of  a  cardinal 
or  in  the  garb  of  a  general,  he  always  brought  his 
enemies  to  terms;  Spain  and  Savoy  soon  agreed 
upon  a  treaty  by  which  the  rights  of  the  Duke  of 
Mantua  were  secured,  and  the  Cardinal  was  at  last 
free  to  complete  the  work  which  the  capture  of 
La  Rochelle  had  rendered  easy.  The  Duke  of 
Rohan  commanded  the  Protestant  forces  in  Southern 
France;  they  had  taken  up  arms  in  behalf  of  their 
brethren  in  La  Rochelle,  and  had  obtained  promises 
of  assistance  both  from  Charles  of  England  and 
Philip  of  Spain.  It  was  not  strange  that  Rohan 
found  a  friend  in  a  Protestant  king,  but  one  would 
not  have  expected  to  see  the  grandson  of  Philip  II. 
an  ally  of  heretics.  The  piety  of  Philip  IV.  did  not 
prevent  his  desiring  the  Protestant  party  to  continue 
as  a  check  on  the  power  of  his  most  Christian 
brother  of  France,  and  he  promised  Rohan  pecuniary 
assistance,  providing  only  that  if  the  Protestants 
succeeded  in  forming  a  separate  state,  they  would 
allow  in  it  liberty  of  conscience  for  Catholics. 

It  was  not  fated  that  a  Huguenot  state  should  be 
carved  out  of  the  French  kingdom.  Rohan's  Pro- 
testant ally  and  his  Catholic  ally  deserted  him  with 
the  same  facility,  and  alone  he  could  not  resist 
the  forces  of  the  French  monarchy  directed  by  the 
vigour  of  Richelieu.  In  the  summer  of  1629,  the 
Huguenots  submitted  to  their  fate.  The  King 


io6  Richelieu  [1624- 

no  longer  made  a  treaty  with  the  Protestant  party 
as  with  a  foreign  power ;  he  received  their  submis- 
sion as  conquered  rebels.  They  were  required  to 
surrender  all  their  fortified  cities,  and  their  existence 
as  a  political  party  was  terminated.  Richelieu  him- 
self superintended  the  destruction  of  the  fortifica- 
tions of  no  less  than  twenty  of  the  thirty-eight 
walled  towns,  which  the  Protestants  had  held  a 
few  years  before. 

The  exercise  of  their  religion  was  secured  to 
Catholics  in  the  places  in  which  it  had  been  for- 
bidden. '  The  ark  beat  down  the  temple  of  Da- 
gon,"  said  Richelieu,  "and  God  entered  in  triumph 
the  places  from  which  His  worship  had  been  sac- 
rilegiously banished."  The  Cardinal  established 
numerous  Jesuit  and  Capuchin  missions  in  Protest- 
ant towns,  and  reopened  and  embellished  churches 
which  had  long  been  closed.  His  qualities  as  a 
statesman  did  not  prevent  his  being  a  strong  and, 
at  times,  a  bitter  Catholic.  He  has  related  the 
conversion  of  a  Protestant  town  with  a  satisfaction 
that  we  would  have  expected  in  Louis  XIV.,  but 
which  seems  strange  in  Richelieu. 

"  I  cannot  forget,"  he  writes,  "  the  goodness  of  God 
in  the  conversion  of  all  the  people  of  the  city  of  Aubenas. 
The  Seigneur  d'Ornano  had  the  arms  of  the  Huguenots 
conveyed  to  the  chateau,  and  lodged  his  soldiers,  who 
were  in  the  city,  with  the  Huguenots,  exempting  the 
Catholics.  At  once,  fifteen  or  twenty  were  converted 
and  abjured  their  heresy;  they  were  soon  followed  by  a 
greater  number,  until,  finally,  two  hundred  and  fifty 
families  were  converted  in  less  than  three  weeks." 


1629]     Overthrow  of  the  Huguenot  Party      107 

Any  question  as  to  the  means  by  which  a  heretic  is 
brought  to  make  even  outward  profession  of  the 
true  faith  is  very  modern.  Some  were  brought  to 
see  the  truth  by  fear  and  some  by  favour.  A  fund 
was  raised  for  those  who  would  abjure  their  errors, 
and  the  pay  was  liberal  when  the  convert  was  a  per- 
son of  influence.  The  Marquis  of  La  Caze,  formerly 
a  colonel  in  the  Huguenot  service,  promised  to  be- 
come a  Catholic  and  to  use  his  influence  to  secure 
the  conversion  of  others  if  satisfactory  terms  could 
be  made.  "  I  hope  to  hear  his  confession,"  wrote 
Father  Athanasius  to  Richelieu,  "  as  soon  as  you 
return  to  me  the  enclosed  memorandum.  I  have 
fixed  the  Marquis's  pension  at  six  thousand  livres." 

A  number  of  the  ministers  were  secretly  suborned, 
and  Richelieu  and  Father  Joseph  planned  a  confer- 
ence of  Catholic  and  Huguenot  clergy,  where,  after 
a  discussion  of  matters  of  faith,  the  latter  would 
acknowledge  the  truth  of  Catholicism  and  carry 
their  Huguenot  followers  en  masse  into  the  true 
Church.  Father  Joseph  sent  a  list  of  thirty-one  Hu- 
guenot ministers  in  Languedoc  alone,  the  promise 
of  whose  aid  he  had  obtained  for  this  project,  but  it 
came  to  nothing;  the  conference  was  never  held, 
and  Richelieu  did  not  obtain  the  glory  of  bringing 
to  the  fold  all  those  who  had  wandered  from  it. 
Probably  such  a  project  excited  more  confidence  in 
the  Capuchin  than  in  the  Cardinal,  and  while  Riche- 
lieu would  gladly  have  been  a  converter,  he  was 
unwilling  to  become  a  persecutor. 

Some  Huguenots,  stubborn  in  their  resistance, 
were  hanged  or  sent  to  the  galleys;  but  Louis  not 


io8  Richelieu 


[1624- 


only  granted  free  pardon  to  almost  all — he  chose 
the  time  when  their  strongholds  were  dismantled 
and  their  power  overthrown  to  publish  once  again 
the  Edict  of  Nantes,  and  solemnly  reaffirm  the 
religious  privileges  secured  to  them  by  Henry  IV. 

Richelieu  was  a  Catholic,  but  he  was  a  statesman 
first  of  all:  he  was  resolved  that  the  Protestants 
should  yield  unquestioned  obedience  to  the  King; 
he  would  have  been  glad  if  they  had  yielded  a 
similar  obedience  to  the  Pope,  but  he  had  no 
thought  of  weakening  France  by  driving  from  her 
borders  loyal  though  heretical  subjects.  Within 
reasonable  limits  the  Huguenots  enjoyed  not  only 
protection  but  favour;  Huguenot  generals  com- 
manded armies  under  Richelieu,  Huguenot  diplo- 
mats were  employed  in  his  service,  and  all  were  left 
undisturbed  in  the  peaceful  observance  of  their 
faith. 

After  the  fall  of  La  Rochelle  and  the  loss  of  their 
fortified  cities,  the  Protestant  party  ceased  to  exist 
as  a  separate  organisation  in  the  State ;  they  were  no 
longer  sought  by  unruly  noblemen  as  allies  in  some 
projected  rebellion,  they  no  longer  raised  troops  or 
chose  generals  or  endeavoured  to  treat  as  an  inde- 
pendent power  with  the  general  Government;  in 
modern  phrase,  they  were  out  of  politics,  and  they 
were  much  better  for  it.  Almost  fifty  years  of 
tranquil  prosperity  lay  before  the  Huguenots;  they 
cultivated  their  fields,  sold  their  merchandise,  and 
counted  their  gains  in  peace;  undisturbed  also,  they 
worshipped  God  according  to  their  own  consciences, 
held  their  frequent  meetings,  sang  inspiring  psalms, 


1629]     Overthrow  of  the  Huguenot  Party      109 

and  listened  to  lengthy  sermons.  In  return,  the 
Protestants  became  loyal  and  faithful  subjects,  and 
they  were  not  led  astray  during  the  disturbances  of 
the  Fronde.  '  The  little  flock,"  said  Mazarin, 
"  feeds  on  poisonous  herbs,  but  it  does  not  wander 
from  the  fold."  France  had  no  more  useful  or  con- 
tented citizens  than  the  Huguenots. 

This  condition,  fortunate  alike  for  them  and  for  the 
country,  was  disturbed  through  the  bigotry  of  Louis 
XIV.  by  a  long  era  of  persecution  and  by  the  revoc- 
ation of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  The  responsibility 
of  these  unwise  and  calamitous  measures  can  in  no 
wise  be  charged  to  the  taking  of  La  Rochelle,  or  to 
the  overthrow  of  the  Protestant  military  power 
under  Richelieu.  His  policy  was  that  of  a  wise 
statesman,  beneficial  alike  to  the  Protestants  and  to 
the  whole  kingdom.  It  was  impossible  that  a  large 
body  of  people  should  continue  in  a  state  of  armed 
independence,  which  must  often  result  in  actual 
war  with  the  general  Government.  This  power,  in- 
consistent with  the  order  and  growth  of  the  state, 
was  overthrown  by  a  statesman  too  wise  to  be  led 
into  the  paths  of  persecution,  who  destroyed  the 
means  of  disturbance  without  interfering  with  the 
rights  of  conscience. 

But  Louis  XIV.  inherited  the  bigotry  of  his 
Spanish  ancestors;  he  was  the  descendant  of  Philip 
II.,  Spanish  blood  ran  thick  in  his  veins,  and  he 
was  surrounded  by  those  like  unto  himself.  If  the 
Protestants  had  still  possessed  their  cities  of  defence, 
if  La  Rochelle  had  still  been  their  stronghold,  this 
would  have  been  no  protection  against  the  power  of 


I  10 


Richelieu 


[1624  16291 


the  French  monarchy  under  Louis  XIV.  The  fact 
that  they  had  been  insubordinate  in  the  past  was 
used  against  them  by  their  enemies,  when  they  had 
long  been  the  most  peaceful  of  French  citizens; 
their  past  unruliness  became  the  pretext  for  their 
ruin. 


CHAPTER  V 

RICHELIEU   AND   HIS   ENEMIES 
1626-1637 

RICHELIEU'S  return  from  his  victories  over 
Savoy  and  the  Huguenots  was  a  triumphal 
progress,  at  which  he  was  justly  elated.  At 
every  city  he  was  received  with  solemn  state,  the 
local  parliaments  sent  deputations  to  congratulate 
him,  mayors  and  city  officials  delivered  to  him  ad- 
dresses, the  effusiveness  of  which  redeemed  their 
length  ;  bishops  called  to  felicitate  one  of  their  order 
who  had  become  so  great,  the  nobility  thronged  to 
pay  their  compliments,  representatives  of  academies 
and  universities  used  their  most  Ciceronian  Latin  as 
they  sounded  the  Cardinal's  praise.  He  modestly 
attributed  his  success  to  the  blessing  of  God  and  the 
wisdom  and  valour  of  the  King,  whose  intentions 
he  had  assisted  in  carrying  into  effect.  But  he  was 
now,  in  the  eyes  of  all  the  world,  the  foremost  man 
in  France;  success  left  him  free  to  carry  out  his  de- 
signs, alike  in  the  foreign  relations  and  the  internal 
development  of  the  kingdom ;  it  gave  him  an 


112  Richelieu 


[1626- 


influence  with  the  King  which  his  enemies  could 
never  overcome. 

Yet  his  hold  on  power  was  far  from  being  wholly 
assured.  For  nineteen  years  he  was  the  King's 
chief  minister,  but  during  that  long  period,  there 
was  no  time  in  which  he  felt  certain  of  continued 
favour,  or  in  which  his  enemies  entirely  despaired 
of  securing  his  overthrow. 

There  was  always  a  certain  analogy  between  the 
relations  of  Ihe  Cardinal  with  the  King  and  those 
of  a  pedagogue  with  his  pupil,  but  in  this  case  the 
pupil  was  fickle  and  wayward,  and  he  had  it  in  his 
power  to  dismiss  the  preceptor  when  the  fancy 
seized  him.  Success  in  Italy  and  at  La  Rochelle 
strengthened  the  Cardinal's  position,  and  he  took 
the  opportunity  to  lecture  the  King  concerning  his 
duties.  This  exhortation  was  prepared  with  special 
care,  and  Richelieu  has  preserved  it  for  posterity. 
He  tells  us  that  it  occupied  an  hour  in  delivery,  and 
it  may  well  have  done  so,  for  it  fills  thirty-four 
printed  pages.  The  tone  curiously  resembles  that 
of  a  somewhat  exacting  and  querulous  pedagogue, 
yet  it  was  delivered  by  a  subject  to  a  king,  and  to  a 
king  who  was  a  man  almost  thirty  years  of  age. 
Louis  heard  many  similar  addresses,  and  if  he  did 
not  listen  patiently,  at  least  he  listened.  The  spec- 
tacle of  the  King,  restlessly  moving  in  his  seat,  while 
the  minister  instructed  him  as  to  his  duties,  and  lect- 
ured him  upon  his  defects,  must  have  been  a  curious 
one.  And  the  Cardinal  certainly  did  not  spare  his 
listener's  feelings;  these  lengthy  sermons  must  have 
wearied  any  man,  and  would  have  irritated  most  men. 


1637]  Richelieu  and  His  Enemies  \  1 3 

"  The  King  is  good  and  brave  and  virtuous,"  so  his 
minister  informs  him,  "  but  he  is  also  suspicious  and 
jealous,  subject  to  whims  and  humours,  which  it  would 
be  easier  for  him  to  correct  than  for  me  to  point  out, 
being  so  accustomed  to  publish  his  virtues  to  the  world 
that  I  can  with  difficulty  indicate  his  defects,  even  to 
himself." 

Notwithstanding  this  difficulty,  the  Cardinal  suc- 
ceeded in  pointing  out  an  abundant  supply  of  de- 
ficiencies. Many  thought,  so  the  minister  informed 
Louis,  that  he  paid  so  little  heed  to  services  ren- 
dered, that  at  the  end  of  three  days  they  were 
wholly  forgotten.  Moreover,  the  master  was  wont 
to  speak  ill  of  his  faithful  servants,  and  dwell  on 
their  defects.  '  His  Majesty  will  please  be  careful 
to  avoid  this  failing,"  said  the  minister.  Then 
also  he  soon  wearied  of  great  questions,  and  dwelt 
by  preference  on  trifles,  giving  the  impression  that 
the  government  of  the  State  was  a  matter  of  indif- 
ference to  him,  and  that  he  willingly  left  the  decision 
of  important  matters  to  others. 

'  To  avoid  this,"  said  the  prudent  minister,  "  if  his 
Majesty  desired,  he  could  be  so  dexterously  advised  in 
secret,  that  everything  done  would  seem  to  be  by  his  own 
order.  M.  de  Luines,"  Richelieu  continued,  "  said 
that  the  King  was  more  inclined  to  severity  than  to  kind- 
ness, more  ready  to  do  an  evil  turn  than  to  bestow  a 
favour.  I  have  never  said  so,"  added  the  Cardinal, 
"  but  unfortunately  many  believe  it  to  be  true." 

In  enumerating  the  King's  defects,  he  did  not 
forget  a  remedy  that  would  cure  many  of  them,  for 

8 


ii4  Richelieu  [1626- 

he  advised  Louis  to  have  a  servant  who  would  re- 
strain the  great  nobles  and  act  with  authority  in 
matters  which  the  King,  from  his  temperament, 
was  sure  to  neglect,  and  he  besought  him  not  to 
cherish  any  foolish  jealousy  of  the  accomplishments 
of  such  a  representative,  for  this  was  to  be  envious 
of  his  own  shadow.  By  such  curious  exhortations, 
certainly  not  lacking  in  plain  speaking,  Richelieu 
sought  to  restrain  the  varying  caprices  of  his  master, 
and  to  allay  his  easily  excited  aversions.  The  effort 
was  successful;  whether  because  Louis  admired  his 
minister's  achievements,  or  dreaded  his  homilies, 
he  kept  him  in  his  service. 

During  the  long  years  of  the  Cardinal's  adminis- 
tration, plots  for  his  overthrow  and  against  his  life 
were  formed  with  varying  frequency.  At  the  root 
of  most  of  these  cabals  was  no  deeper  cause  than  a 
desire  to  be  rid  of  the  Cardinal  and  his  followers, 
that  others  might  share  in  the  royal  bounty  or  exer- 
cise authority  in  the  State.  It  was  not  only  his 
foreign  policy,  but  his  personal  character  that 
aroused  an  unlimited  supply  of  enemies.  Mary  de* 
Medici  desired  Richelieu's  ruin,  because  she  hated 
him  as  an  ingrate;  the  Cardinal's  hand  was  laid 
heavily  on  the  nobility,  and  they  bore  him  no  love; 
he  was  mistrusted  by  the  clergy,  who  saw  in  him  a 
priest  ready  to  sacrifice  the  cause  of  the  Church  to 
the  demands  of  the  State.  Amid  all  the  enemies 
excited  by  jealousy,  resentment,  and  disapproval  of 
his  policy,  it  is  not  strange  that  conspiracies  for  his 
overthrow  were  numerous. 

Such  Tn^ngrreffcJiaii^ to-deal  with  one  who  was  a 


16371  Richelieu  and  His  Enemies  i  r  5 


master  in  their  own  art.  If  Richelieu  was  : 
rounded  by  plotters  and  caballers,  no  man  was  bet- 
ter fitted  to  discover  their  secrets  and  baffle  their  / 
purposes.  His  own  nature  was  subtle  and  secretive, 
he  spared  no  pains  and  hesitated  at  no  means  to 
penetrate  and  to  defeat  the  plans  of  his  enemies. 
In  his  employ  was  always  a  large  force  of  skilful 
spies,  and  those  most  trusted  by  his  adversaries 
were  often  in  the  pay  of  the  Cardinal.  Ladies  of 
rank  and  gentlemen  of  fashion,  who  in  public  de- 
claimed against  Richelieu's  tyranny,  sent  secret 
reports  for  his  information ;  even  the  priest  at  the 
confessional  often  advised  his  penitent  as  the  minis- 
ter directed. 

The  skill  with  which  the  Cardinal  penetrated  the /U^f 
purposes  of  his  enemies  was  equalled  by  the  severity  A  *^r-  > 
with  which  he  punished  them.      Richelieu  was  not  ^  t)r' 
a  bloody-minded  man,  he  was  not  cruel,  but  he  was 
merciless.     In  early  years,  he  had  seen  how  lightly 
revolt  was  undertaken,  when  the  punishment  for  it 
was  also  light.      He  was  resolved  that  to  take  up 
arms  against  the  King,  or  to  plot  against  his  minis- 
ter, should  be  recognised  as  a  most  dangerous  occu- 
pation,  no  matter  how  exalted  the  rank  of  those 
who  participated  in  it. 

He  was  not  only  a  man  cunning  in  intrigue  and 
skilful  in  foiling  the  plots  of  his  enemies,  but  he 
met  them  with  a  resolute  courage  that  never  flinched. 
Only  the  life  of  Louis  XIII.,  an  infirm  man,  always 
511,  often  at  death's  door,  stood  between  the  Cardi- 
nal and  utter  ruin.  Gaston,  xthe  King's  brother, 
was  the  heir  presumptive,  a  youth  as  weak  and 


n6  Richelieu  [1626- 

cowardly  and  treacherous  as  could  be  found  in 
France.  He  was  allied  with  those  who  hated  Riche- 
lieu with  a  deadly  hatred;  if  Louis  XIII.  died,  his 
minister  would  be  fortunate  to  escape  from  his 
enemies  with  the  loss  of  his  office  and  the  confisca- 
tion of  his  estate. 

But  he  never  swerved  by  a  hair's  breadth  from 
the  course  he  had  marked  out,  in  order  to  avoid 
these  dangers.  He  ruled  the  kingdom  as  if  he  were 
beyond  the  possibility  of  overthrow,  disregarding 
the  advice  of  his  adversaries,  making  no  sacrifice  of 
the  State's  interests  to  please  a  man  who  at  any 
time  might  become  his  sovereign,  or  to  conciliate 
those  who  controlled  this  weak  and  selfish  youth. 

The  birth  of  a  son  to  Louis  XIII.  many  years 
later  did  not  make  Richelieu's  position  safer;  if  the 
King  died  while  the  child  was  a  minor,  the  Queen 
would  naturally  become  regent,  and  Louis's  wife 
hated  the  minister  as  sincerely  as  did  Louis's 
brother.  There  was  something  heroic  in  this  infirm 
priest,  holding  office  under  an  infirm  master,  un- 
moved in  the  performance  of  what  he  believed  his 
duty  to  the  State,  and  giving  no  heed  to  those  who 
might  any  day  be  in  position  to  visit  upon  him  the 
accumulated  hatred  of  years. 

The  record  of  all  the  plots  for  Richelieu's  over- 
throw would  fill  volumes;  some  of  them  which  illus- 
trate not  only  the  dangers  of  his  career,  but  also  the 
nature  of  the  Government,  deserve  sgrne  notice  .in 
an  account  of  his  life. 

In  1626,  when  Richelieu  had  been  only  two  years 
in  office,  the  first  great  combination  was  formed 


OASTON,  DUKE  OF  ORLEANS. 

FROM    A   STEEL    ENGRAVING. 


1637]  Richelieu  and  His  Enemies  \  1 7 

against  him.  It  had  been  decided  to  marry  Gaston 
to  Mile,  de  Montpensier,  and  as  she  was  young, 
beautiful,  and  the  greatest  heiress  in  France,  he 
might  have  been  content  with  his  lot.  But  the 
marriage  was  distasteful  to  many  of  Gaston 's  fol- 
lowers, and  they  had  little  trouble  in  persuading  him 
to  refuse  his  consent.  The  surest  way  to  defeat  the 
project  was  to  get  rid  of  the  minister  who  had 
formed  it,  and  the  intriguers  devoted  their  energies 
to  this  end.  It  was,  said  Richelieu,  the  most  fright- 
ful conspiracy  recorded  in  history.  Its  gravity  was 
perhaps  exaggerated  by  the  man  against  whom  it 
was  formed.  The  plotters  decided  that  Gaston 
with  some  followers  should  visit  the  Cardinal  at  his 
country  house,  demand  the  release  of  a  friend  who 
had  been  imprisoned,  and  if  this  were  refused  the 
Cardinal  should  be  murdered  on  the  spot.  The 
visit  was  made  and  the  release  demanded,  but  a  few 
words  of  the  Cardinal  so  alarmed  Gaston  that  he  at 
once  beat  a  retreat.  Richelieu  soon  put  an  end  to 
these  machinations;  Marshal  Ornano,  Grand  Prior 
Vendome,  an  illegitimate  son  of  Henry  IV.,  and 
Chalais,  Gaston 's  confidant  and  trusted  adviser,  were 
arrested,  and  the  conspiracy  fell  to  pieces.  Gaston 
tremblingly  told  all  he  knew  of  their  plans;  he 
promised  hereafter  to  live  in  perfect  submission  to 
the  King,  and  to  disclose  to  him  any  future  plots  or 
evil  counsels  that  came  to  his  knowledge,  and  he 
was  married  forthwith  to  Mile,  de  Montpensier,  the 
Cardinal  himself  tying  the  nuptial  knot. 

On  the  same  day,  Richelieu  began  the  series  of 
executions  for  political  crimes,  which  were,  perhaps, 


1 1 8  Richelieu 


11626- 


necessary  for  the  peace  of  the  community  but 
have  cast  a  lurid  light  upon  his  name.  Chalais 
was  tried  for  treason  by  a  special  court  created  to 
condemn  him,  and  was  at  once  brought  to  the 
block.  Gaston  was  playing  cards  when  told  of  the 
execution  of  his  favourite,  and  continued  the  game 
undisturbed.  Ornano  and  Vendome  escaped  the 
block  by  dying  in  prison.  Richelieu's  enemies  de- 
clared that  he  caused  them  to  be  poisoned,  but  he 
never  resorted  to  secret  executions;  he  was  not 
afraid  to  put  his  opponents  to  death  before  the  eyes 
of  all  the  world. 

Richelieu's  successes  increased  the  zeal  of  those 
who  sought  his  overthrow.  As  Louis  returned  from 
his  Italian  campaign  in  1630,  he  fell  ill  at  Lyons. 
His  health  was  always  infirm,  and  medical  art  did 
much  to  weaken  a  feeble  constitution  ;  almost  every 
day  had  its  drug,  and  almost  every  week  its  bleed- 
ing; in  one  year,  it  was  said,  the  King  was  bled 
forty-seven  times,  and  his  physicians  administered 
to  him  doses  of  medicine  by  the  hundred.  Not- 
withstanding all  this,  Louis  dragged  out  a  sickly 
existence  for  forty-two  years.  At  Lyons  he  was 
dangerously  ill;  the  physicians  bled  him  seven  times 
in  one  week,  and  then  bade  him  consider  his  spiritual 
welfare.  He  received  the  viaticum,  and,  on  Septem- 
ber 3Oth,  it  was  thought  he  could  not  survive  the 
day.  '  This  morning,"  wrote  Richelieu,  "  I  saw 
the  greatest  and  most  virtuous  of  kings  in  such  a 
condition  that  I  could  not  hope  he  would  be  alive 
by  night."  Everyone  believed  that  Gaston  would 
soon  be  king,  and  rumour  declared  that  Anne  of 


1637]  Richelieu  and  His  Enemies  119 

Austria  sent  a  messenger  to  him,  suggesting  the 
project  of  a  marriage  after  Louis  had  passed  away. 
Whether  true  or  false,  Louis  believed  the  story,  and 
this  was  added  to  the  long  list  of  his  wife's  offences. 

Richelieu  watched  the  progress  of  his  master's  ill- 
ness with  a  more  sincere  desire  for  his  recovery  than 
was  felt  by  most  of  the  Court.  If  the  King  died, 
the  minister's  overthrow  was  certain  ;  he  could 
only  hope  to  escape  death  or  imprisonment  by  re- 
tiring into  obscurity.  To  the  amazement  of  all,  the 
King  lived  through  all  the  bleedings  and  purgings 
to  which  he  was  subjected,  and  his  health  suddenly 
took  a  turn  for  the  better.  But  he  was  still  feeble, 
and  his  mother  endeavoured  to  obtain  from  his 
weakness  the  promise  of  Richelieu's  overthrow. 
The  King  disliked  to  say  no  even  when  well;  and 
he  obtained  temporary  respite  from  his  mother's 
solicitations  by  vague  promises  to  dismiss  Richelieu 
after  his  return  to  Paris.  In  October,  the  royal 
party  left  Lyons,  the  Cardinal  accompanying  them, 
and  in  November  they  reached  the  capital. 

The  promises  which  Louis  had  given  when  ill,  he 
felt  no  desire  to  perform  when  in  health.  His 
mother  pressed  him  relentlessly,  and  on  November 
loth  they  had  a  long  conference  with  closed  doors, 
that  she  might  have  her  son  to  herself  and  be  free 
from  the  Cardinal's  interference.  But  he  suspected 
the  subject  of  their  interview,  and  finding  access  by 
a  door  leading  from  the  chapel  which  had  been  over- 
looked, he  suddenly  appeared  in  their  midst.  "  God 
furnished  a  door  that  had  not  been  barred,"  he 
wrote  twelve  years  later,  "  and  this  gave  me  an 


1 20  Richelieu  [1626- 

opportunity  to  defend  myself  when  it  was  sought  to 
complete  my  ruin."  At  first  Mary  de*  Medici  was 
so  appalled  by  his  intrusion  that  she  allowed  him 
to  proceed  in  his  endeavour  to  justify  himself,  but 
she  soon  found  her  temper,  which  was  occasionally 
violent,  and  her  tongue,  which  was  often  virulent. 
She  poured  out  her  wrath  on  the  Cardinal,  and  at 
last  declared  that  the  King  must  rid  himself  of  one 
or  the  other.  '  In  that  case,"  said  the  Cardinal, 
meekly,  ' '  it  would  be  reasonable  that  it  should  be 
of  me." 

Louis  had  been  an  embarrassed  spectator  of  this 
scene,  and  was  glad  to  make  his  escape  by  declaring 
that  he  wished  to  visit  Versailles,  but  before  he  left, 
the  Queen-mother  obtained  from  him  the  appoint- 
ment of  Marillac  as  general  of  the  army  in  Italy,  and 
strong  intimations  that  Marillac's  brother,  her  chief 
adviser,  should  succeed  Richelieu  as  prime  minister. 
Greatly  embarrassed  as  to  what  he  should  do,  and 
little  pleased  with  what  he  had  done,  the  King 
moodily  made  his  way  to  Versailles,  accompanied 
only  by  a  few  of  his  most  intimate  retainers. 

In  the  meantime,  all  was  exultation  among  the 
friends  of  the  Queen-mother,  and  they  apportioned 
among  themselves  the  power  and  the  places  which 
the  Cardinal's  overthrow  would  leave  vacant.  Maril- 
lac, the  guard  of  the  seals,  was  to  become  prime 
minister,  his  brother  was  to  command  the  army  in 
Italy,  and  the  partisans  of  Richelieu  were  to  be  re- 
placed by  partisans  of  the  Queen. 

Thus  those  unwary  politicians  schemed  and  re- 
joiced on  the  day  of  November  11,  1630,  which  was 


1 637]  Richelieu  and  His  Enemies  121 

to  become  famous  as  the|  Day  of  the  Dupes.  It  was 
reported  that  Richelieu  himself  despaired  of  the 
situation,  and  prepared  to  leave  the  Court.  This 
does  not  seem  probable ;  he  was  not  a  man  to  aban- 
don the  contest,  and  he  knew  the  influence  he  could 
exert  over  Louis,  even  when  the  monarch  was  most 
eager  to  throw  off  his  yoke.  While  Richelieu's 
enemies  were  exulting  over  his  downfall,  the  politi- 
cal future  of  France  was  decided  at  an  obscure 
hunting-lodge.  Louis  had  fled  to  Versailles  from 
his  mother's  importunities,  and  there  sought  relief 
in  hunting,  which  of  all  earthly  pleasures  he  liked 
best.  The  splendours  of  Versailles  were  far  in  the 
future;  it  was  then  a  small  lodge,  surrounded  by 
forests  in  which  there  was  an  abundance  of  deer, 
boar,  and  wolves. 

The  King  was  reluctant  to  disgrace  his  minister, 
not  because  he  loved  him,  but  because  he  knew  that 
the  success  of  his  reign  depended  on  the  Cardinal's 
continuance  in  power.  If  Louis  was  unwilling  to 
say  no  to  the  greedy  intriguers  and  ambitious 
women  who  clamoured  for  the  minister's  over- 
throw, no  one  knew  better  than  he  how  unfit  was 
such  a  coterie  to  fill  the  minister's  place;  while  he 
was  glad  to  feel  that  the  Cardinal's  majestic  pres- 
ence would  no  longer  overawe  him,  yet  he  was 
mortified  that  the  control  of  the  State  should  fall 
into  unfit  hands. 

But  this  was  not  to  be.  It  is  said  that  Louis's 
favourite,  Saint  Simon,  the  father  of  the  famous 
writer  of  memoirs,  advised  him  to  send  for  the 
Cardinal,  and  that  the  King  was  willing  to  listen  to 


122  Richelieu  [1626- 

his  advice.  At  all  events,  Richelieu  followed  Louis 
to  Versailles,  and  in  an  evening  at  the  hunting-lodge 
he  answered  the  arguments  of  his  enemies  and  con- 
founded their  devices.  The  Queen-mother  had 
committed  a  fatal  mistake  from  over-confidence,  and 
no  one  of  her  emissaries  followed  Louis  to  Versailles 
to  guard  against  dangerous  interviews.  Before  the 
conference  was  ended,  Louis  decided  to  retract  his 
promises  and  to  retain  the  Cardinal  in  power.  A 
crowd  of  smiling  ladies  and  exulting  gentlemen  were 
gathered  about  Mary  de'  Medici,  when  a  messenger 
from  the  King  announced  that  Louis  had  decided  to 
dismiss  Marillac  from  his  position.  The  disgrace  of 
her  follower  showed  that  the  Queen's  schemes  had 
failed,  and  that  Louis  was  again  under  Richelieu's 
control.  "  He  has  dealt  ill  with  me,"  she  said, 
"  not  only  because  I  am  his  mother,  but  because  he 
has  failed  to  keep  his  word." 

The  Cardinal  would  have  met  no  mercy  in  defeat, 
and  he  showed  no  mercy  in  victory.  Marshal  Maril- 
lac was  arrested,  tried  for  peculation,  and  condemned 
to  death.  "  A  man  of  my  rank  condemned  for 
peculation!"  said  the  marshal;  "there  was  not 
offence  enough  to  flog  a  lackey."  He  might  have 
been  pardoned  for  making  the  King  pay  two  prices 
for  oats  and  flour;  such  frauds  were  common,  even 
among  those  of  high  degree,  but  there  was  no  for- 
giveness for  plotting  against  Richelieu.  The  mar- 
shal's brother,  who  was  to  replace  Richelieu  in  the 
ministry  designated  by  Mary  de'  Medici,  was  also 
arrested,  and  he  escaped  the  block  by  dying  in 
prison.  Bassompierre,  another  great  nobleman, 


1637]  Richelieu  and  His  Enemies  123 

who  had  done  little  more  than  sympathise  with  the 
Cardinal's  enemies,  was  arrested  and  confined  in  the 
Bastille  for  twelve  years,  until  the  minister's  death 
brought  him  deliverance.  Arrest  without  a  charge, 
and  imprisonment  without  a  trial,  were  not  uncom- 
mon in  French  political  life;  Richelieu  in  those 
respects  was  no  more  and  no  less  an  offender  than 
kings  and  ministers  before  and  after  him. 

Louis's  mother  and  brother  were  the  Cardinal's 
niost  dangerous  enemies,  and  they  could  neither  be 
beheaded  nor  shut  up  in  prison.  But  by  their  own 
act  they  relieved  him  of  their  presence.  Mary  de' 
Medici  went  to  Compiegne  with  the  King  and  Cardi- 
nal. They  made  a  hasty  return  to  Paris,  and  from 
there  the  King  sent  his  mother  a  letter,  ordering  her 
to  retire  to  Moulins.  '  I  will  obey,"  she  wrote  in 
return,  "  and  remain  at  Moulins  until  God,  the  pro- 
tector of  the  innocent,  shall  touch  your  heart." 
Apparently,  she  decided  that  it  was  useless  to  wait 
for  so  remote  a  day,  and,  instead  of  going  to  Mou- 
lins, she  presently  fled  to  Brussels,  and  sought  refuge 
with  the  Spanish  army.  She  never  again  saw  her 
son  or  his  minister,  and  for  eleven  years  she  re- 
mained an  exile, travelling  from  Court  to  Court,  nurs- 
ing vain  hopes  of  revenge,  and  devising  schemes  for 
the  Cardinal's  ruin  which  always  failed  of  accom- 
plishment. Richelieu  had  many  enemies,  but  no  one 
hated  him  as  the  woman  to  whose  favour  he  owed 
so  much.  It  is  strange  that  this  sensual,  indolent 
Italian,  fond  of  the  good  things  of  life,  loving  luxury, 
disliking  toil,  should  have  nourished  a  hate  so  strong 
that  it  drove  her  from  the  pomp  and  splendour 


124  Richelieu  [1626- 

of  the  Luxembourg,  to  suffer  an  exile's  lot.  She 
could  have  remained  in  France;  both  Richelieu 
and  the  King  were  well  content  to  have  her  go,  and 
uttered  no  wish  for  her  return,  but  Louis  would 
never  have  pronounced  a  decree  of  banishment 
against  his  mother.  It  was  enmity  to  Richelieu 
that  made  her  shake  the  dust  of  France  off  her  feet. 
To  her,  his  conduct  seemed  the  basest  ingratitude; 
she  felt  that  he  owed  his  rise  to  her  favour,  and  was 
bound  to  share  with  her  his  power.  It  is  possible 
that  Richelieu  had  gained  not  only  her  good-will, 
but  her  affection,  that  not  only  the  neglect  of  the 
politician  but  the  forgetfulness  of  the  lover  made 
the  Cardinal  odious  to  Mary  de'  Medici.  Consider- 
ing the  manner  of  woman  she  was,  perhaps  nothing 
else  would  have  aroused  in  her  so  fierce  and  passion- 
ate a  hate. 

Cold  as  was  Richelieu's  nature,  he  was  not  insens- 
ible to  the  charge  of  ingratitude  towards  the  author 
of  his  fortunes.  In  his  will,  prepared  shortly  before 
his  death,  there  was  but  one  political  reference,  and 
in  that  he  wrote,  "  I  must  say  that  I  have  never 
failed  in  my  duty  to  the  Queen-mother, notwithstand- 
ing the  calumnies  that  have  been  heaped  upon  me." 

There  is  no  doubt  that  he  was  ungrateful  to  her, 
and  that  his  ingratitude  was  wise.  He  was  not  one 
of  the  politicians  who  reward  friends  at  the  cost  of 
the  State.  The  Queen  was  destitute  of  political  in- 
telligence, and  her  career  had  shown  how  unfit  she 
was  for  power;  she  expected  Richelieu  to  listen  to 
her  counsels;  he  treated  her  with  politeness  and 
declined  to  heed  her  advice ;  she  regarded  him  as 


16371  Richelieu  and  His  Enemies  125 

an  ungrateful  man,  and  he  regarded  her  as  an  unwise 
woman,  and  both  were  right. 

The  record  of  her  wanderings  is  not  important  ex- 
cept as  it  illustrates  the  extent  of  Richelieu's  system 
of  espionage.  The  schemes  of  the  Queen-mother 
were  not  apt  to  ripen  into  action,  and  her  abuse  of 
the  Cardinal  was  innocuous,  but  he  wished  that  no 
thought  of  his  enemies  should  escape  him.  Her 
health  became  impaired  and  a  physician  was  sent 
her  by  the  King;  he  probably  ministered  with 
fidelity  to  her  ailments,  but  he  certainly  showed 
equal  zeal  in  reporting  the  secrets  of  her  life  to  the 
man  she  hated  most.  A  priest,  who  was  also  an 
agent  of  the  Cardinal,  acted  as  intermediary,  and 
the  physician  reported  regularly  the  condition  of  the 
Queen's  health,  her  railings  against  Richelieu,  her 
hopes  of  his  speedy  death,  and  the  plans  of  her  fol- 
lowers. '  They  say,"  writes  the  doctor,  "  that  his 
Eminence  cannot  live  long,  that  he  is  covered  with 
loathsome  ulcers,  and  that  Cinq-Mars  now  controls 
the  King's  councils."  To  such  gossip,  which  the 
Cardinal  could  not  have  found  agreeable,  the  physi- 
cian presently  added  more  welcome  information,  for 
he  reported  that  the  Queen  herself  could  not  live 
out  the  year.  His  prophecy  was  just,  and  in  July, 
1642,  Mary  de'  Medici  ended  her  years  of  exile. 
She  died  unhappy,  disappointed,  in  need,  except  as 
she  received  aid  from  the  treasury  of  the  State 
which  Richelieu  governed.  It  would  have  been 
some  consolation  on  her  death-bed,  if  she  could  have 
known  that  the  ingrate  whom  she  hated  had  but  six 
months  more  to  live. 


126  Richelieu  [1626 

The  year  after  Mary  de'  Medici,  despairing  of 
Richelieu's  overthrow,  fled  from  the  soil  polluted 
by  his  presence,  an  ill-advised  and  ill-fated  insurrec- 
tion showed  that  the  minister's  hand  would  be  laid 
heavily  even  on  the  most  illustrious  insurgents. 
When  his  mother  retired  into  voluntary  exile,  Gas- 
ton  abandoned  the  Court  and  took  refuge  in  Lor- 
raine. That  duchy  was  independent  of  France, 
in  theory,  if  not  in  fact,  and  was  ruled  by  a  prince 
admirably  fitted  to  command  an  army  and  entirely 
unfitted  to  govern  a  state.  He  at  once  espoused 
the  cause  of  the  fugitive;  Gaston  had  become  a 
widower;  and  the  alliance  was  speedily  cemented 
by  his  marrying  Margaret  of  Lorraine.  It  was  cer- 
tain that  this  mai»riage  would  find  no  favour  in 
France  and  that  every  effort  would  be  made  to 
annul  it,  but  the  duke  declared  it  was  worth  while 
to  risk  spending  one's  days  in  a  convent  for  the 
chance  of  becoming  Queen  of  France,  and  Mar- 
garet took  the  hazard.  As  usually  happens  in  life, 
she  experienced  neither  the  best  nor  the  worst  of 
fortune,  she  became  neither  nun  nor  queen. 

With  the  avowed  purpose  of  overthrowing  Riche- 
lieu and  obtaining  for  himself  and  his  mother  the 
royal  favour  which  was  diverted  by  a  wicked  minis- 
ter, Gaston,  in  the  following  year,  1632,  led  a  small 
body  of  troops  into  France.  He  marched  through 
Burgundy  unmolested,  though  finding  no  supporters, 
and  at  last  reached  Languedoc,  where  he  had  been 
promised  the  aid  of  a  very  great  personage. 

Henry,  Duke  of  Montmorenci,  was  the  governor 
of  Languedoc,  where  his  family  had  long  exercised 


1637]  Richelieu  and  His  Enemies  127 

an  authority  which  hardly  yielded  to  that  of  the 
King.  Montmorenci  had  not  been  counted  among 
Richelieu's  enemies,  but  some  disappointed  ambi- 
tions stirred  up  the  leaven  of  discontent,  and,  in  an 
evil  hour,  he  resolved  to  combine  forces  with  Gas- 
ton.  Levying  war  upon  the  King  was  manifestly 
high  treason,  but,  in  various  pronunciamentos,  the 
rebels  sought  to  justify  the.. act.  Their  aim,  so  they 
declared,  was  not  to  oppose  the  King,  but  to  over- 
throw the  tyrant  who  had  usurped  the  royal  author- 
ity;  and  Gaston  styled  himself  lieutenant-general  of 
the  King  for  the  purpose  of  repressing  the  violence 
and  evil  deeds  of  the  Cardinal. 

Apart  from  the  influence  exercised  by  Montmo- 
renci, the  people  of  Languedoc  had  a  local  grievance. 
They  enjoyed  a  large  degree  of  home  rule,  their 
provincial  States  still  met  and  sought  to  regulate 
the  quota  which  Languedoc  should  contribute  to 
the  needs  of  the  general  government,  and  the  col- 
lection of  all  taxes  was  in  the  hands  of  local  officials. 
In  his  desire  for  uniformity,  Richelieu  had  intrusted 
the  collection  of  certain  imposts  to  officials  appointed 
by  the  Crown,  and  this  measure  excited  much  dis- 
content among  a  people  tenacious  of  the  privileges 
which  distinguished  them  from  other  Frenchmen. 

Many  cities  were  ready,  therefore,  to  follow  Mont- 
morenci into  rebellion,  and  the  States  met  and 
resolved  to  support  him.  Their  assistance  was  of 
small  avail.  While  the  duke  was  a  brave  soldier, 
he  was  not  the  man  to  lead  an  army.  The  King 
had  only  a  small  force  of  soldiers  in  the  province, 
but  it  proved  quite  sufficient.  The  armies  met  at 


128  Richelieu  [1626- 

Castelnaudary,  and  any  chance  of  victory  for  the  in- 
surgents was  destroyed  by  Montmorenci's  rashness. 
At  the  head  of  a  small  body  of  cavalry,  he  charged 
recklessly  on  the  enemy,  and  was  at  once  struck 
down  and  taken  prisoner.  When  the  report  circu- 
lated that  Montmorenci  was  killed,  the  recruits  from 
Languedoc  abandoned  the  field,  and  Gaston's  army 
retreated  in  confusion.  The  commander  of  the 
royal  forces  said  that  he  lost  only  eight  men  killed 
in  the  battle  which  put  an  end  to  the  war. 

The  rebellion  was  promptly  suppressed,  and  with 
some  severity  so  far  as  the  leaders  were  concerned. 
Citadels  and  fortified  chateaux  were  destroyed, 
some  officials  were  executed,  nobles  were  deprived 
of  their  privileges,  the  temporalities  of  six  bishoprics 
were  seized  as  a  punishment  for  the  disloyal  conduct 
of  their  incumbents.  The  humbler  insurgents  were 
pardoned,  and  Richelieu  judiciously  abandoned  his 
efforts  at  uniformity  and  restored  the  local  tax- 
gatherers  in  Languedoc.  Gaston  promised  once 
more  to  obey  the  King  and  love  the  Cardinal;  he 
was  forgiven,  but,  in  a  few  weeks,  he  again  changed 
his  mind  and  fled  to  Brussels. 

These  matters  attracted  little  attention  in  the 
universal  interest  as  to  the  fate  of  the  Duke  of  Mont- 
morenci. He  had  been  taken  prisoner  in  open 
rebellion,  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  he  was  guilty 
of  high  treason,  and  that  his  offence  was  punishable 
with  death.  But  rebellions  had  been  frequent  in 
the  last  twenty  years,  and  while  great  nobles  took 
the  chances  of  death  on  the  field,  their  execution  as 
criminals  was  not  regarded  as  within  the  realm  of 


HENRY,    DUKE  OF   MONTMORENCI,    MARSHAL  OF   FRANCE, 

FROM    A   PORTRAIT    BY    BALTAZAR    MONCORNET. 


1637]  Richelieu  and  His  Enemies  1 29 

possibilities.  Richelieu,  indeed,  had  not  spared 
those  of  high  degree,  but  the  Duke  of  Montmorenci 
was  a  far  more  important  personage  than  any  whom 
the  Cardinal  had  sent  to  the  block. 

Among  the  proud  and  ancient  nobility  of  France, 
the  Montmorencis  stood  first;  they  had  furnished 
six  constables  and  twelve  marshals  to  the  army ; 
their  name  had  been  illustrious  during  seven  cent- 
uries of  French  history.  Not  only  noble  but 
royal  families  were  proud  to  claim  relationship  with 
the  race  of  the  Montmorencis.  The  present  duke 
was  not  unworthy  of  his  great  ancestry.  He  was  a 
brave  officer,  a  courteous  gentleman,  a  faithful  hus- 
band, and  a  pious  Christian.  He  was  beloved  in 
Languedoc  for  his  amiable  and  considerate  charac- 
ter, he  was  admired  by  his  soldiers  for  his  courage 
and  manly  bearing.  He  was  the  senior  baron  of 
France,  a  duke,  a  marshal,  the  governor  of  a  great 
province,  a  brother-in-law  of  the  Prince  of  Conde\ 
He  was,  said  a  contemporary,  the  noblest,  richest, 
handsomest,  most  pious,  and  most  gallant  gentle- 
man in  the  kingdom.  A  universal  cry  went  up  that 
his  blood  should  be  spared  :  princes  and  nobles  asked 
for  his  pardon ;  the  crowds  in  the  street  cried  out  for 
grace;  services  were  held  in  the  churches,  and  the 
Almighty  was  asked  to  come  to  the  duke's  relief; 
processions  of  religious  penitents  marched  from 
station  to  station  praying  for  his  safety.  Nor  were 
threats  wanting:  forty  gentlemen,  it  was  said,  had 
daggers  ready  for  the  Cardinal  if  he  spilled  the  blood 
of  Montmorenci. 

But  neither  prayers  nor  threats  could  move  that 


1 30  Richelieu  [1626- 

cold  and  inexorable  character.  The  King  was  by 
nature  prone  to  severity,  and  it  was  easy  to  persuade 
him  that  appeals  for  clemency  must  be  refused.  In- 
deed, Montmorenci's  eminence  sealed  his  doom. 
The  Cardinal  wished  the  world  should  see  that  no 
one,  however  illustrious  or  powerful  or  nobly  born, 
could  bear  arms  against  his  sovereign  without  taking 
the  risk  of  a  felon's  death. 

The  duke  was  tried  before  a  local  court,  and  on 
October  30,  1632,  he  was  sentenced  to  be  beheaded. 
There  was  little  delay  accorded  a  criminal,  and 
Montmorenci  was  executed  on  the  same  day.  All 
that  prayers  obtained  from  the  King  was  a  consent 
that  he  should  be  beheaded  in  the  prison,  instead  of 
at  the  public  place  of  execution.  He  met  his  fate 
like  a  gentleman  and  a  Christian.  Four  in  the  after- 
noon was  the  hour  fixed,  but  he  asked  that  the 
time  of  execution  might  be  two  hours  earlier,  that 
he  might  die  at  the  same  hour  as  his  Saviour.  To 
Richelieu  he  left  by  his  will  a  portrait  of  the  Martyr- 
dom of  St.  Sebastian,  as  proof  that  he  was  still  his 
faithful  servant. 

"  I  bid  you  the  last  adieu,  dear  heart,"  he  wrote  his 
wife,  "  with  the  affection  that  has  always  been  between 
us.  And  I  beseech  you  by  my  soul,  which  I  hope  will 
soon  be  in  Heaven,  moderate  your  grief  and  receive  this 
affliction  from  the  Saviour.  Adieu  once  more,  dear 
heart." 

He  left  no  son,  and  the  direct  line  of  Montmorenci 
perished  on  the  scaffold. 

The  Cardinal  had  to  meet  more  dangerous  adver- 
saries than  Montmorenci,  He  did  not  study  the 


1637]  Richelieu  and  His  Enemies  \  3 1 

politics  of  Germany  more  closely  than  the  intrigues 
and  changing  humours  of  the  Court,  and  at  the 
Court  were  found  his  most  adroit  enemies.  Of  in- 
surrection, incited  by  great  nobles,  there  was  little 
in  the  latter  years  of  his  administration;  the  merci- 
less vigour  with  which  they  had  been  suppressed, 
the  inexorable  rigour  which  brought  to  the  block 
even  the  chief  of  the  great  house  of  Montmorenci, 
discouraged  such  enterprises.  If  the  Cardinal  was 
not  loved,  he  was  greatly  feared;  his  opponents 
caballed  for  his  overthrow,  but  they  no  longer  ven- 
tured to  take  up  arms  against  the  Government. 

Richelieu's  most  bitter  enemies  were  women. 
He  possessed  none  of  the  arts  which  excite  affection 
or  admiration  among  women,  and  their  influence 
was  rarely  exercised  in  his  favour.  The  Queen- 
mother  was  the  most  inveterate  in  her  hostility,  but 
when  she  was  at  last  driven  from  Court,  there  was 
nothing  to  fear  from  her.  The  King's  wife  loved 
the  Cardinal  no  more  than  did  the  King's  mother, 
but  she  was  less  active  in  seeking  his  overthrow. 
The  gossip  that  accused  Richelieu  of  endeavouring 
unsuccessfully  to  obtain  her  affection  may  be  at 
once  dismissed ;  he  was  not  the  man  to  become  in- 
volved in  any  affair  of  the  heart,  nor  was  he  foolish 
enough  to  make  love  to  his  master's  wife. 

The  hostility  of  the  two  Queens  was  less  danger- 
ous, because  the  King  wasted  no  affection  on  either 
of  them.  By  force  of  persistence  his  mother  at 
times  had  exerted  some  influence  over  him.  His 
wife  exerted  no  influence  at  any  time;  she  was  a 
woman  of  small  capacity,  whom  Louis  regarded 


132  R  tc  he  lieu  [1626- 

with  an  indifference  that  occasionally  warmed  into 
dislike.  However  groundless  was  the  scandal  about 
her  and  Buckingham,  her  admiration  for  the  hand- 
some adventurer  and  the  foolish  talk  to  which  it 
gave  rise  were  distasteful  to  the  King.  He  was 
convinced,  moreover,  that  in  contemplating  the  pos- 
sibility of  his  death  she  had  decided  to  console  her- 
self with  his  brother,  and  no  denials  from  her  shook 
his  firm  belief.  When  he  was  on  his  death-bed,  his 
wife  sent  a  message  asking  his  pardon  for  whatever 
she  had  done  that  displeased  him,  and  she  added  a 
solemn  declaration  that  she  had  taken  no  part  in  the 
conspiracies  formed  against  him.  "  In  my  condi- 
tion," replied  the  stubborn  monarch,  "  I  am  bound 
to  forgive  her,  but  not  to  believe  her."  Spain  and 
France  were  often  at  war;  the  Queen  was  justly  sus- 
pected of  sympathising  with  her  own  family,  and 
she  manifested  no  eagerness  for  the  success  of  a 
husband  who  manifested  no  affection  for  her.  If 
Louis  did  not  love  Richelieu,  he  liked  his  minister 
better  than  his  wife.  She  had  more  reason  to  fear 
the  Cardinal's  ill-will  towards  her  than  he  had  to 
fear  her  ill-will  towards  him. 

But  a  new  source  of  peril  was  disclosed  when 
Louis  found  women  for  whom  he  did  care,  and  who 
cared  nothing  for  Richelieu.  The  relations  of  Louis 
with  the  two  maids  of  honour  who  in  turn  absorbed 
his  affections,  disclose  the  complex  and  unusual 
character  of  the  man.  The  varied  loves  of  his 
father  and  of  his  son  present  no  strange  features. 
Henry  IV.  and  Louis  XIV.  fell  in  love  with  many 
pretty  women  after  the  manner  of  other  men.  They 


ANNE   OF  AUSTRIA. 


1637]  Richelieu  and  His  Enemies  133 

gave  their  mistresses  money  and  titles,  raised  up 
children  by  them,  and  in  due  time  quitted  one 
for  another,  as  the  kings  of  France  had  done  for 
centuries. 

The  amours  of  Louis  XIII.  were  far  different. 
He  always  desired  some  companion  on  whom  he 
could  bestow  a  puerile  affection,  but  those  on  whom 
he  lavished  his  devotion  were  usually  men.  The 
succession  of  male  favourites  was  at  last  broken  by 
a  passion  for  two  beautiful  women,  but  a  passion 
alike  pure  and  grotesque.  Mile,  de  Hautefort  was 
the  first  whose  beauty  and  grace  excited  the  ardour 
of  the  chaste  King.  She  was  a  young  girl  of  good 
family  with  scanty  means,  who  was  early  left  under 
the  charge  of  her  grandmother  to  be  reared  in  the 
monotony  of  provincial  life.  Though  fitted  to 
shine,  she  led  a  tedious  and  obscure  existence,  and 
as  she  was  both  ambitious  and  pious  she  offered 
fervent  prayers  to  God  that  He  would  have  her  sent 
to  the  Court.  Her  prayers  were  answered,  and  at 
fourteen  she  became  one  of  the  maids  of  honour  of 
the  Queen-mother.  Her  beauty  charmed  the  new 
world  in  which  she  found  herself,  and  soon  excited 
Louis's  admiration.  The  King  was  fond  of  music, 
and  he  composed  little  airs  and  songs,  of  which  the 
charms  of  Mile,  de  Hautefort  were  always  the  bur- 
den; at  table  he  could  look  but  on  her;  content  to 
do  without  her  favours  himself,  he  was  jealous  of  any 
suitor  who  endeavoured  to  invade  his  virtuous 
harem.  Any  jealousy  the  Queen  might  have  had 
of  the  favourite  was  dispelled  by  the  independent 
and  loyal  character  of  the  girl,  as  well  as  by  the 


134  Richelieu  [1626 

virtue  of  the  King,  for  Louis's  devotion  was  marked 
by  a  modesty  which  excited  the  amusement  rather 
than  the  respect  of  the  Court. 

Though  flattered  by  the  royal  attention,  Mile,  de 
Hautefort  in  no  way  returned  the  King's  affection ; 
she  was  too  proud  to  be  his  mistress,  and,  more- 
over, Louis  was  not  a  dangerous  suitor.  He  never 
talked,  she  complained,  but  of  his  dogs  and  his 
hunting.  He  was,  moreover,  suspicious  and  melan- 
choly, and  with  Mile,  de  Hautefort's  taste  for  rail- 
lery they  had  constant  quarrels.  These  cast  a 
cloud  over  the  Court.  Louis  spoke  to  no  one  and 
no  one  dared  to  speak  to  him.  He  sat  gloomily  in 
a  corner  and  yawned,  gazing  at  the  charmer  in 
silence.  At  such  times  his  chief  occupation  was  to 
write  out  long  statements  of  conversations  between 
himself  and  his  mistress,  and  voluminous  procts 
verbaux  of  these  lovers'  quarrels  were  found  among 
his  papers  after  his  death. 

Even  this  bizarre  affection  excited  the  jealousy  of 
the  minister.  Richelieu  would  have  been  pleased 
to  have  the  good  offices  of  the  favourite,  but  he 
was  rarely  successful  in  obtaining  the  friendship  of 
women.  His  foreign  policy  and  his  resolute  char- 
acter excited  no  admiration  in  a  young  girl  who 
cared  nothing  about  the  power  of  Austria,  but  saw 
in  the  Cardinal  a  stern  and  bloody  man  who  had 
exiled  and  beheaded  many  great  nobles,  had  driven 
the  Queen-mother  out  of  France,  and  caused  the 
King's  wife  to  be  treated  with  harshness  and  neglect. 
He  has  recorded  his  opinion  of  female  influence  with 
a  bitterness  due  to  his  own  experience.  "  There 


1637]  Richelieu  and  His  Enemies  135 

are  often,"  he  writes,  "  greater  perils  in  the  intrigues 
of  cabinets  than  in  the  most  difficult  affairs  of  State, 
there  is  more  peril  in  becoming  involved  in  matters 
in  which  women  take  part  than  in  the  greatest  de- 
signs that  princes  may  form."  Mile,  de  Hautefort 
scorned  the  Cardinal's  favours  and  the  wealth  which 
he  bestowed  so  liberally  on  those  who  helped  him, 
and  her  relations  with  the  King  gave  her  opportuni- 
ties to  express  her  views  concerning  the  minister. 
Louis  always  liked  to  hear  Richelieu  attacked,  and 
enjoyed  a  safe  opportunity  of  himself  joining  in  the 
abuse.  He  could  not  deny  himself  the  pleasure  of 
speaking  ill  of  the  minister  at  his  back,  though  he 
was  too  much  abashed  in  that  august  presence  to 
reproach  him  to  his  face.  When  the  King  joined 
with  Richelieu's  enemies  in  abusing  the  Cardinal, 
they  felt  that  his  disgrace  must  be  near  at  hand. 
But  having  indulged  in  the  luxury  of  denouncing 
his  servant  as  a  cruel,  irreligious,  and  tyrannical 
minister,  Louis  was  quite  content  to  leave  him  in 
full  possession  of  power. 

As  the  Cardinal  could  not  gain  the  good-will  of 
the  favourite  he  resolved  that  her  influence  with  the 
King  should  be  destroyed.  Two  methods  were 
used  to  free  Louis  from  her  charms.  He  was  ex- 
ceedingly sensitive  to  censure  or  ridicule;  Mile,  de 
Hautefort's  tongue  was  sharp,  and  jests  on  the 
King  which  she  had  uttered  or  might  have  uttered, 
were  repeated  to  him  and  caused  him  much  annoy- 
ance. Then  also  an  appeal  was  made  to  his  religious 
fears,  and  he  was  alarmed  by  delineations  of  his 
love  as  a  dangerous  and  ungodly  passion. 


136  Richelieu  [1626- 

In  order  promptly  and  surely  to  overthrow  the 
favourite's  influence,  it  was  deemed  expedient  to 
choose  a  new  one  for  the  place.  Mile,  de  La  Fay- 
ette,  though  less  beautiful  than  her  rival, was  attract- 
ive in  appearance  and  had  a  melancholy  charm  of 
manner  which  might  prove  more  pleasing  to  Louis 
than  the  railleries  of  De  Hautefort.  The  Bishop  of 
Limoges,  Saint  Simon,  and  various  ladies  joined  in 
the  attempt  to  obtain  for  her  the  King's  favour.  It 
may  be  said  to  their  credit  that  in  this  endeavour 
they  knew  they  were  not  exposing  the  young  girl's 
virtue  to  any  serious  peril.  Mile,  de  La  Fayette 
was  judiciously  thrown  in  the  King's  way,  and  he 
soon  transferred  his  affection  to  her.  She  was  well 
fitted  to  excite  and  to  keep  the  love  of  so  peculiar  a 
temperament.  Louis's  melancholy  in  the  great 
place  he  held,  his  capricious  and  variable  moods, 
his  periods  of  mental  depression,  which  had  either 
amused  or  bored  Mile,  de  Hautefort,  excited  a  sin- 
cere interest  and  sympathy  in  the  mild  and  religious 
character  of  her  successor.  She  felt  a  strong  attach- 
ment for  Louis,  not  as  a  king  but  as  a  man ;  he 
found  this  personal  attachment  a  new  experience, 
and  into  her  ear  he  poured  all  the  fulness  of  his 
heart. 

But  the  Cardinal  soon  discovered  that  the  change 
of  favourites  had  only  increased  his  own  peril. 
Mile,  de  La  Fayette  was  even  more  indifferent  than 
her  predecessor  to  the  wealth  or  position  by  which 
Richelieu  tried  to  tempt  her;  to  her  pure  and  gentle 
character  his  harsh  rule  seemed  odious ;  her  tender- 
ness bled  for  a  persecuted  and  oppressed  Queen; 


1637]  Richelieu  and  His  Enemies  137 

her  piety  revolted  against  a  worldly  priest  wasting 
untold  lives  in  a  struggle  against  the  Church  and 
Catholic  princes.  The  Cardinal  resolved  that  she 
also  must  be  removed  from  the  Court,  and  he  sought 
to  work  upon  her  devotional  teelings,  and  to  induce 
her  to  enter  upon  a  religious  life.  Such  suggestions 
found  an  easy  entrance  into  the  girl's  heart.  Even 
the  King's  virtue  sometimes  failed  him  when  over- 
come by  his  fondness  for  her.  She  became  alarmed, 
and  turned  her  thoughts  to  the  safety  that  could 
only  be  found  in  a  retreat  from  the  world.  The 
King  feared  that  their  affection  might  involve  them 
in  deadly  sin,  and  he  did  not  forbid  this  step.  All 
means  were  used  by  the  Cardinal  to  hasten  her  re- 
treat ;  even  the  priest,  who  sometimes  received  the 
confessions  of  the  young  girl's  heart,  was  in  Riche- 
lieu's service  and  reported  to  him  the  daily  progress 
that  was  making. 

"  She  came  yesterday  morning,"  writes  the  priest,  "  to 
confess  to  me.  She  told  me  that  her  uncle  wished  her 
to  promise  that  she  would  speak  to  the  King  before  her 
retreat.  We  agreed  that  she  should  see  the  King  toV 
morrow  morning,  and  that  on  Monday  morning  she 
should  go  to  Sainte  Marie.  She  seemed  entirely  con- 
tented, and  after  this  she  received  the  communion." 

A  few  weeks  later,  as  she  still  delayed,  we  find  a 
letter  from  the  same  priest  to  her,  ingeniously  ex- 
pressed so  as  to  affect  a  proud  and  sensitive  nature. 

"  I  wish,"  he  writes,  "  to  express  my  affliction  at  hear- 
ing from  the  mouths  of  persons  of  quality  the  false  re- 
ports that  calumny  spreads  of  you :  that  the  thought  of 


1 38  Richelieu  [1626- 

retreat  has  been  only  a  feint  to  possess  the  affections  of 
his  Majesty  more  strongly,  and  to  induce  him  to  give 
you  a  great  sum  of  money.  .  .  .  But  I  hope  your 
virtue  and  courage  will  soon  prevail.  .  .  .  Take  a 
step  worthy  of  your  piety,  birth,  and  constancy.  God, 
angels,  and  men  will  esteem  you  more  than  when  pos- 
sible changes  in  the  favour  you  possess  will  take  away 
the  merit  and  honour  of  the  calling,  which  you  can  now 
adopt  with  so  great  glory." 

Relatives  and  friends,  who  hoped  for  advantage 
from  her  favour,  endeavoured  in  vain  to  check  the 
pious  resolve  thus  insidiously  encouraged.  The 
King  was  submissive  to  her  desire.  "  It  is  true  she 
is  dear  to  me,"  he  said,  "  but  if  God  calls  her  to 
religion,  I  will  offer  no  obstacle."  At  times  his 
feelings  overcame  him.  He  said  to  Father  Caussin, 
weeping:  "  Why  does  she  hasten  ?  Could  she  not 
delay  some  months  until  I  leave  for  the  army  ? 
This  separation  might  then  be  less  severe,  but  now 
I  am  dying  from  it. ' '  But  his  piety  again  triumphed. 

Nothing  has  cost  me  as  much  as  what  I  am  now 
doing,  but  God  must  be  obeyed.  Tell  her  that  I 
allow  her  to  go."  She  bade  farewell  to  the  King 
quietly,  but  as  his  carriage  drove  away,  she  cried 
out,  "  Alas!  I  shall  see  him  no  more."  Her  favour 
had  begun  in  1635.  On  the  I9th  of  May,  1637,  she 
entered  the  Convent  of  the  Visitation. 

The  Cardinal  had  not  only  to  fear  the  hostile 
voice  of  women  who  saw  in  him  a  cruel  man,  en- 
gaged in  carrying  on  war  against  the  true  religion, 
but  the  royal  confessor  sought  also  to  exert  the 
great  influence  which  he  held  over  the  timorous 


1637]  Richelieu  and  His  Enemies  139 

conscience  of  the  King,  in  a  way  prejudicial  to  the 
minister.  The  confessor  was  then  Father  Caussin, 
a  Jesuit  whom  Richelieu  had  selected  as  a  safe  man, 
who  would  take  care  of  the  King's  morals  and  let 
alone  his  politics.  The  minister  was  mistaken  in 
his  judgment  of  the  priest.  Father  Caussin  felt 
that  the  King  was  engaged  in  evil  courses,  under 
the  influence  of  an  ambitious  and  unscrupulous 
minister,  and  that  upon  his  confessor  devolved 
the  duty  of  turning  Louis  from  the  damnable 
sins  in  which  his  course  as  a  sovereign  involved 
him. 

The  priest  sought  to  alarm  the  King's  conscience 
by  pointing  out  the  evils  his  policy  was  working. 
His  alliance  with  the  Protestants  of  Germany,  he 
told  Louis,  had  caused  the  ruin  of  religion :  more 
than  six  thousand  churches  had  been  destroyed  or 
abandoned ;  in  great  districts  no  mass  was  said ;  the 
relics  of  the  saints  were  trodden  under  foot;  the 
sacred  vessels  were  used  for  profane  purposes; 
the  virgins  consecrated  to  the  Lord  were  scattered 
abroad;  and  by  his  minister's  counsels  the  King 
was  induced  to  violate  all  laws,  human  and 
divine. 

The  Cardinal  was  suspicious  of  anyone  whose  re- 
lations with  the  King  became  intimate,  and  he 
sought  to  pry  into  the  frequent  interviews  which  the 
confessor  had  with  Louis.  He  often  entered  the 
King's  cabinet  when  Father  Caussin  was  there,  and 
to  allay  his  suspicions  Louis  had  a  little  book  pre- 
pared with  special  offices  for  his  use  on  great  feasts 
and  saints'  days.  When  Richelieu  came  into  the 


140  Richelieu  [1626- 

room,  King  and  priest  appeared  to  be  searching  the 
Bible  for  passages  to  be  used  for  some  new  form  or 
office;  but  after  he  retired  they  returned  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  matters  of  State.  Though  Mile,  de  La 
Fayette  had  retired  to  the  convent,  her  influence 
over  the  King  had  not  ceased.  He  was  allowed  to 
visit  her  at  the  convent;  they  held  long  conversa- 
tions and  mingled  their  tears  through  the  wicket 
which  divided  her  from  the  world,  and  she  still  en- 
deavoured to  turn  the  King  from  his  impious  wars 
and  his  cruel  minister. 

The  task  of  inducing  Louis  to  change  the  policy 
which  he  had  adopted  at  Richelieu's  dictation  was 
not  an  easy  one,  and  the  Cardinal  was  able  to  baffle 
his  enemies.  He  discovered  that  Father  Caussin, 
under  cover  of  the  confessional,  was  seeking  to  over- 
throw his  power,  and  the  conduct  of  the  confessor 
seemed  criminal  to  the  man  who  had  been  his  pro- 
tector. '  It  was,"  Richelieu  writes,  "  the  blackest 
and  most  damnable  malice  that  ever  entered  into  the 
mind  of  a  monk."  But  the  Cardinal  could  control 
the  King's  scrupulous  and  wavering  mind,  and  he 
now  proved  by  the  opinions  of  theologians  that  the 
alliances  with  the  Protestants  were  in  conformity 
with  God's  law.  He  asked  Louis  if  he  expected  to 
govern  his  kingdom  by  the  counsels  of  a  novice  of 
the  Visitation,  and  of  an  ignorant  and  credulous 
priest,  and  the  King,  on  this,  as  on  many  other 
occasions,  yielded  to  the  force  of  his  minister's 
arguments.  Father  Caussin  was  dismissed  and  sent 
to  Brittany,  where  he  occupied  his  time  in  bewailing 
his  lot  and  bemoaning  his  disgrace.  His  place  was 


1637] 


Richelieu  and  His  Enemies 


141 


filled  by  Father  Sirmond,  who  was  also  a  Jesuit,  but 
who  discreetly  confined  his  attention  to  the  King's 
spiritual  welfare  and  did  not  interfere  with  his 
temporal  policy. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   ADMINISTRATION   OF   RICHELIEU 
1624-1642 

THE  constant  struggle  to  retain  power  did  not 
divert  Richelieu  from  the  accomplishment  of 
the   objects    for   which    he    desired    to   hold 
power.     He  was  not  a  man  to  be  content  with  the 
mere  possession  of  office,  the  wealth  it  brought,  or 
the  paraphernalia  by  which  it  was  surrounded;  he 
wished  to  be  prime  minister  that  he  might  execute 
the  internal  reforms  which  he  believed  would  make 
France  prosperous,  and  carry  out  the  foreign  policy 
which  he  believed  would  render  her  great. 

In  every  branch  of  the  administration  his  will  con- 
trolled, and  his  activity  extended  from  appointing 
a  petty  official  to  deciding  on  peace  or  war,  from 
scolding  about  the  provisions  furnished  a  regiment 
to  directing  the  plans  of  a  campaign.  It  was  a  mis- 
take that  he  attempted  so  much,  for  no  man  could 
supervise  all  the  details  of  a  great  government. 
The  chaotic  condition  of  the  administration  rendered 
his  task  still  more  difficult,  and  the  prime  minister 
would  often  send  repeated  orders  to  generals  in  the 

142 


[1624-1642]     Administration  of  Richelieu       143 

field  or  to  officials  in  the  interior,  with  little  cer- 
tainty that  they  would  be  carried  into  effect. 

The  Cardinal  had  entire  confidence  in  his  own 
judgment ;  he  did  not  seek  the  advice  of  others,  and 
still  less  did  he  desire  to  guide  his  steps  by  the 
counsels  of  any  legislative  body.  Yet  in  the  early 
years  of  his  career  he  twice  summoned  assemblies 
of  notables,  to  whose  judgment  he  submitted  press- 
ing questions  of  State.  The  first  met  in  1625,  and 
had  little  to  do  except  declare  its  approval  of  the 
war  which  Richelieu  had  already  undertaken  in  the 
Valtelline.  In  the  following  year  a  second  assembly 
was  convened,  to  which  more  extensive  duties  were 
intrusted.  To  this  were  bidden  twelve  nobles,  as 
many  of  the  clergy,  some  members  of  the  courts  and 
officers  of  finance,  and  a  few  great  dignitaries.  They 
were  summoned,  so  ran  the  formal  commission,  to 
recommend  to  the  King,  without  fear  or  favour, 
whatever  in  their  consciences  they  regarded  as  most 
advantageous  to  the  public  weal;  but  an  assembly 
where  most  of  the  members  were  in  some  way  con- 
nected with  the  administration,  and  all  attended  at 
the  King's  bidding,  was  certain  not  to  suggest  any 
novel  policy  nor  indulge  in  any  disagreeable  criti- 
cism on  measures  that  had  been  adopted.  Nomi- 
nally they  were  convened  as  advisers,  but  really  the 
Cardinal  desired  the  approval  of  persons  of  influ- 
ence, because  he  was  not  yet  strong  enough  to  be 
indifferent  to  the  approval  of  anyone  except  the 
King.  Tractable  as  the  assembly  proved,  the  Car- 
dinal never  troubled  himself  again  to  summon  either 
nobles  or  commonalty.  He  ruled  France,  asking 


144  Richelieu  [1624- 

no  counsel  and  fearing  no  opposition  from  Church, 
nobility,  or  third  estate. 

In  those  early  years  many  measures  of  utility 
were  proposed,  not  all  of  which,  unfortunately,  were 
carried  into  effect.  In  1626,  an  edict  directed  the 
destruction  of  all  fortified  castles,  except  as  they 
were  required  for  defence  in  case  of  foreign  war. 
The  work  of  destruction  was  left  to  the  local  author- 
ities, and  the  popular  ill-will  against  strongholds, 
many  of  which  had  been  the  seats  of  petty  tyranny 
and  curses  to  the  neighbourhood  in  which  they 
stood,  insured  the  prompt  and  willing  accomplish- 
ment of  the  royal  order. 

The  new  minister  undertook  more  important 
work  when  he  sought  to  make  improvements  in  the 
financial  system.  It  must  be  admitted  that  he  ac- 
complished little;  his  fame  does  not  rest  on  the 
ability  he  displayed  as  a  minister  of  finance,  and  yet 
a  complete  transformation  of  the  methods  of  French 
taxation  was  the  one  thing  that  might  have  averted 
the  French  Revolution.  That  event  was  far  re- 
moved in  Richelieu's  time,  but  its  causes  were 
already  in  operation. 

It  was  the  fundamental  trouble  with  French  tax- 
ation that  the  most  of  it  fell  upon  those  who  were 
least  able  to  bear  it.  Land  owned  by  the  nobility  and 
by  the  Church  was  practically  exempt,  though  from 
land  the  Government  derived  the  largest  part  of  its 
revenues.  The  enormous  duty  on  salt  Was  a  severe 
imposition  on  the  poor;  and  there  were  many  other 
forms  of  taxation  which  added  to  their  burden. 
The  cost  of  government  is  often  the  chief  obstacle  to 


1642]       The  Administration  of  Richelieu       145 

the  prosperity  of  the  governed ;  this  was  true  in 
France  when  Richelieu  assumed  power,  and  it  was 
equally  true  when  he  relinquished  power. 

Taxation  would  have  been  heavy  if  levied  equally 
upon  all  property;  its  burden  became  far  more 
severe  when  it  fell  in  large  proportion  upon  the 
scanty  property  of  the  poor.  Yet  few  thought  of 
changing  the  system ;  the  exemptions  allowed  the 
privileged  orders  had  long  existed,  and  though 
many  grumbled,  few  questioned  their  validity.  At 
the  assembly  of  notables  in  1626,  a  courageous  pre- 
sident of  the  Court  of  Aids  asked  that  the  taille 
should  be  levied  equally  on  all  land,  no  matter  who 
was  the  owner,  but  he  could  secure  only  three  votes 
for  his  proposed  reform.  Certainly  Richelieu  had 
no  thought  of  pressing  it.  He  desired  the  prosper- 
ity of  the  country,  but  he  was  a  noble  by  birth  and 
a  churchman  by  profession.  In  his  testament  he 
declared  that  if  the  mass  of  the  people  found  them- 
selves in  a  condition  of  too  great  ease  they  might 
become  insubordinate  and  unruly.  He  was  not  a 
man  to  suggest  changes  that  would  have  modified 
the  entire  social  system  for  the  benefit  of  those  who 
held  the  lowest  place  in  it. 

Bad  as  was  the  theory  of  taxation,  it  became 
worse  in  practice.  Most  of  the  taxes  were  farmed, 
and  the  right  of  collecting  them  was  sold  to  the 
highest  bidder.  Only  persons  of  wealth  could  enter 
a  competition  which  required  the  payment  of  mil- 
lions of  ready  money  to  the  King;  the  tax  farmers 
secured  unconscionable  bargains  from  the  Govern- 
ment and  increased  their  profits  by  unconscionable 


146  Richelieu  [1624- 

exactions  from  the  people.  All  the  evils  caused  by 
dishonest  public  contractors  and  dishonest  public 
servants,  in  the  most  corrupt  of  modern  states,  do 
not  equal  those  which  resulted  from  the  system  of 
farming  taxes;  and  yet  so  slow  is  the  progress  of 
improvement,  especially  when  it  is  at  the  cost 
of  powerful  private  interests,  that  the  practice  of 
farming  taxes  in  France  survived  until  the  Revolu- 
tion. 

When  Richelieu  became  minister  he  endeavoured 
to  check  the  disorders  he  found  in  the  Government's 
finances.  Corruption  is  sure  to  be  prevalent  when 
there  is  a  good  opportunity  for  it ;  where  stealing  is 
made  easy  there  will  always  be  thieves ;  and  in  the 
chaos  of  French  administration  the  public  could 
be  plundered  with  much  ease  and  little  danger. 
'  When  I  was  an  officer  of  finance,"  said  a  well- 
known  character  a  century  later,  "  I  stole  like  all 
the  rest."  The  same  remark  would  have  been  made 
by  a  person  of  similar  frankness  in  Richelieu's  day. 

The  Cardinal  imprisoned  his  predecessor  in  office 
on  a  well-founded  charge  of  peculation,  and  then 
instituted  measures  against  the  farmers  of  taxes. 
Such  attacks  were  frequently  made;  the  farmers 
bought  immunity  for  the  past  and  for  a  reasonable 
time  in  the  future,  by  turning  over  to  the  State 
some  part  of  their  surplus.  They  were  not  often 
impoverished  by  these  proceedings.  The  wealth 
they  had  accumulated  was  in  itself  a  protection, 
and  they  had,  moreover,  potent  allies  at  the  Court 
and  among  the  nobility.  In  that  age,  as  in  all  ages, 
the  members  of  noble  houses  replenished  their 


1642]       The  Administration  of  Richelieu       147 

diminished  estates  by  marrying  heiresses,  without 
regard  to  their  pedigree.  A  pamphleteer  of  Riche- 
lieu's time  writes:  "There  is  not  a  financier  who 
does  not  live  like  a  lord  and  dress  like  a  prince,  and 
many  of  them  are  allied  to  the  most  illustrious 
houses  in  the  kingdom.  Is  it  not  horrible  to  see 
Jacquet  marrying  the  niece  of  the  Duke  of  Mayenne, 
and  the  daughter  of  Feydeau  marrying  the  Count  of 
Lude?  "  and  so  on  through  a  long  list  of  misalliances. 

Richelieu  now  instituted  proceedings  against  the 
body  of  tax  farmers  to  compel  a  restitution  of  their 
excessive  profits.  The  proceeding  was  Eastern  in 
its  simplicity;  the  culprits  were  fined  with  regard  to 
their  supposed  wealth,  rather  than  from  any  evidence 
of  corrupt  conduct ;  they  bought  their  peace  as  best 
they  could,  and  the  system  went  on  as  before. 
Eleven  millions  were  obtained  from  them  at  this 
time;  the  sum  they  paid  for  immunity  is  an  indica- 
tion of  the  amount  they  had  stolen.  With  the  gen- 
eral improvement  in  administration  under  Richelieu 
the  taxes  were  farmed  somewhat  more  for  the  pub- 
lic advantage  than  under  Mary  de*  Medici.  That  is 
about  all  that  France  owed  to  Richelieu  as  a  minis- 
ter of  finance. 

By  an  edict  of  1634,  an  endeavour  was  made  to 
reduce  the  number  exempted  from  the  taillc,  but 
those  whose  immunities  were  invaded  raised  a  storm 
of  protest,  and  Richelieu,  less  resolute  in  attempts 
at  financial  reform  than  when  he  sought  to  strengthen 
the  power  of  the  central  Government,  allowed  the 
edict  to  fall  into  practical  disuse. 

No  better  success  attended  another  measure,  which 


148  Richelieu  [1624- 

might  have  been  productive  of  large  benefits.  In 
1629,  a  lengthy  edict  which,  from  its  framer,  was 
called  the  Code  Michau,  sought  to  deal  with  a  great 
variety  of  internal  questions:  it  regulated  not  only 
the  administration  of  justice  but  the  reformation  of 
monasteries;  it  forbade  parents  sending  their  child- 
ren out  of  the  kingdom  to  be  educated ;  it  imposed 
penalties  upon  oppressive  acts  by  unruly  nobles;  it 
prescribed  the  discipline  of  soldiers,  and  allowed 
gentlemen  to  take  part  in  foreign  commerce  without 
derogating  from  their  rank.  Almost  all  the  regula- 
tions of  the  code  were  useful,  but  they  were  also 
novel,  and  social  and  political  changes  were  not 
then  viewed  with  favour. 

If  the  edict  was  drafted  by  Michau,  it  embodied 
the  ideas  of  Richelieu,  but  he  was  strangely  irresol- 
ute in  seeking  to  enforce  it  in  the  face  of  public 
disapproval.  The  measure  met  with  vigorous  oppo- 
sition from  the  courts,  not  only  because  it  interfered 
with  their  procedure,  but  because  they  were  opposed 
to  innovations.  No  one  showed  less  regard  for  the 
courts  than  Richelieu  when  he  wished  to  insure  the 
punishment  of  an  enemy  or  to  coerce  resistance  to 
the  royal  authority,  but  he  was  unable  or  unwilling 
to  overcome  the  stubborn  hostility  of  the  judges  to 
a  measure  of  reform.  It  shared  the  fate  of  many 
wise  laws  which  appeared  on  the  French  statute 
books,  only  to  be  first  disregarded  and  then  for- 
gotten. 

The  changes  which  the  Cardinal  made  in  the  in- 
ternal administration  of  France  will  be  discussed  in 
another  chapter.  We  have  now  to  consider  his 


1642]       The  Administration  of  Richelieu       149 

foreign  policy,  and  the  results  it  produced  in  France 
and  in  Europe. 

After  the  overthrow  of  the  Huguenot  party,  there 
was  no  fear  of  any  serious  internal  disturbance,  and 
the  Cardinal  was  free  to  deal  with  foreign  powers. 
He  had  already  sent  French  troops  to  Italy  to  en- 
force the  rights  of  the  French  heir  to  the  duchy  of 
Mantua,  and  to  protect  the  Swiss  cantons  in  the 
Valtelline,  and  during  the  most  of  his  administra- 
tion France  supported  armies  in  Italy,  without, 
however,  accomplishing  very  important  results.  In 
truth,  the  Cardinal  entertained  no  dreams  of  con- 
quests beyond  the  Alps;  he  desired  only  to  lessen 
the  influence  of  Spain  and  to  check  the  aggressions 
of  Austria.  French  blood  and  money  had  flown 
freely  in  schemes  for  transalpine  aggrandisement, 
but  these  had  always  resulted  in  disaster.  Richelieu 
was  a  zealous  supporter  of  the  French  claimant  to 
the  duchy  of  Mantua ;  he  sought  to  direct  the  policy 
of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  with  whose  family  the  French 
King  was  closely  allied,  but,  except  a  few  frontier 
towns,  he  made  no  acquisitions  in  Italy;  he  knew 
that  such  possessions  would  be  elements  of  weakness 
rather  than  of  strength. 

If  the  Cardinal  sought  no  Italian  territory  for 
France,  he  looked  with  ill-will  on  the  great  posses- 
sions held  by  Spain,  for  Naples,  Sicily,  and  Milan 
were  subject  to  that  country  and  Spanish  influence 
was  paramount  in  the  Italian  peninsula.  While  the 
French  insisted  that  the  country  should  be  freed 
from  foreign  control,  there  was  no  thought  of  a 
united  Italy.  Such  an  idea  would  have  seemed  as 


1 50  Richelieu  [1624- 

strange  to  Italian  patriots  as  to  foreign  statesmen; 
it  was  almost  two  centuries  later  before  the  demand 
for  a  united  country  became  important,  so  slow  is 
the  development  of  new  political  conceptions. 

Richelieu's  own  plan  was  for  a  confederation  of 
the  Italian  states  under  the  nominal  leadership  of 
the  Pope,  but  this  project  pleased  nobody.  The 
papacy  desired  no  political  experiments,  and  the 
Italian  princes  looked  with  distrust  upon  the  Pope 
as  a  political  leader.  The  combination  was  not 
feasible;  the  Cardinal  soon  recognised  what  was 
possible  in  politics,  and  did  not  press  his  scheme. 
The  success  of  his  career  was  largely  due  to  the 
justness  of  his  political  vision ;  his  ambitions  were  as 
practical  as  those  of  Frederick  II.,  and  he  was  never 
led  astray  by  the  vague  dreams  that  allured  Na- 
poleon. He  accomplished  much  because  he  set 
strict  limits  to  what  he  undertook. 

In  the  course  of  these  Italian  campaigns,  the 
Cardinal  first  met  Mazarin,  and  in  1630  he  saw  some- 
what of  the  man  who  was  to  be  his  successor. 
Mazarin  was  then  a  young  Italian  of  twenty-eight, 
in  the  service  of  the  Pope;  he  was  popular  from  his 
winning  manners,  and  had  already  gained  a  certain 
prominence  in  Italian  politics.  He  seems  to  have 
been  charmed  by  Richelieu's  imposing  personality, 
but  the  Cardinal  distrusted  the  smooth-tongued 
Italian,  and  did  not  at  once  admit  him  to  his 
favour.  '  What  he  says  cannot  be  received  for  gos- 
pel truth,"  Richelieu  writes  Mary  de'  Medici.  In 
1634,  Mazarin  secured  the  coveted  honour  of  being 
sent  to  Paris  as  papal  nuncio,  and  he  took  an  active 


1642]       The  Administration  of  Richelieu       151 

part  in  negotiations  in  which  France  was  interested. 
The  power  and  splendour  to  which  Richelieu  had 
attained  suggested  visions  to  the  young  diplomat 
more  attractive  than  any  promotion  he  could  hope 
from  the  papal  court.  He  laboured  diligently  to 
obtain  Richelieu's  confidence,  and  he  was  wise 
enough  to  be  faithful  to  a  master  in  whose  service 
there  was  much  to  gain.  He  became  a  French  sub- 
ject, and  was  intrusted  with  important  missions,  in 
which  he  showed  extraordinary  ability  as  a  diplomat. 

"  I  cannot  tell  you,"  Richelieu  wrote  him  in  1639, 
"  my  contentment  that  your  negotiations  with  Prince 
Thomas  have  been  successful.  God  has  allowed  you  to 
show  in  this  matter  what  you  can  accomplish  in  the 
greater  and  more  important  treaties  in  which  you  will 
take  part.  .  .  .  You  may  be  sure  that  in  all  times 
and  places,  I  shall  be,  not  uselessly,  your  servant." 

'  The  Cardinal  has  sent  me  a  letter,"  Mazarin  wrote 
to  a  friend,  "  that  would  rouse  me,  if  I  were  dead." 
When  Richelieu  gave  his  confidence,  he  gave  it 
fully.  Mazarin  was  selected  as  an  ambassador  to 
the  congress  by  which  the  Thirty  Years'  War  was 
at  last  brought  to  an  end,  and  he  was  designated  as 
the  representative  of  France  at  the  conclave  by 
which  Innocent  X.  was  elected  Pope.  So  much 
were  his  services  needed  in  France  that  he  went  on 
neither  mission,  and  the  death  of  Father  Joseph  left 
him  confessedly  the  ablest  and  most  trusted  of 
Richelieu's  assistants.  When  the  Cardinal  was  on 
his  death-bed,  he  told  Louis  that  Mazarin  was  the 
man  best  fitted  to  fill  his  place,  and  the  statesman 
showed  his  sagacity  in  his  farewell  counsel.  There 


152  Richelieu  [1624- 

was  no  French-born  subject  who  could  have  con- 
tinued Richelieu's  foreign  policy  with  the  success 
of  Mazarin.  Despite  the  weaknesses  of  his  charac- 
ter, the  Italian  was  a  diplomat  of  extraordinary 
ability ;  the  treaties  of  Westphalia  and  the  Pyrenees 
were  the  triumphs  of  his  policy,  and  they  crowned 
the  work  of  Richelieu.  Louis  XIII.  yielded  to  the 
Cardinal's  judgment  after  his  death,  as  he  had  in 
his  lifetime.  Three  years  after  Mazarin  became  a 
French  citizen,  he  was  the  prime  minister  of  France. 

The  interference  of  France  in  Italian  politics  was 
only  one  chapter  of  the  long  struggle  against  Spain 
and  the  Emperor,  and  it  produced  no  important  re- 
sults. Mazarin  himself  was  perhaps  the  most  valu- 
able acquisition  the  French  made  in  Italy ;  but  in 
another  field,  where  there  was  an  opportunity  for 
important  and  permanent  advantage,  Richelieu 
pursued  with  unwearied  persistence  the  object  in 
view. 

The  great  and  populous  province  of  Lorraine  lay 
next  to  French  soil;  it  furnished  a  shield  against 
German  invasion,  and  Richelieu  followed  the  estab- 
lished lines  of  French  policy  in  his  endeavours  to 
bring  this  territory  under  French  control.  The 
acquisition  of  Lorraine  by  France  occupied  almost 
two  centuries,  and  the  slow  process  of  absorption 
was  in  curious  contrast  to  the  rapidity  with  which 
it  was  wrested  from  France  by  Prussia. 

In  the  long  and  varied  history  of  the  province,  its 
relations  had  in  turn  been  intimate  with  the  Empire 
and  with  the  French  kingdom,  but  for  a  century 
before  the  days  of  Richelieu,  although  Lorraine 


1642]       The  Administration  of  Richelieu       153 

remained  nominally  a  part  of  the  Holy  Roman  Em- 
pire, it  was  more  closely  bound  to  France  than  to  any 
of  the  German  states.  During  the  religious  wars  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  the  family  of  Guise,  who 
sprang  from  Lorraine,  became  the  most  influential 
personages  in  French  politics.  The  situation  of 
Lorraine  favoured  close  relations  between  its  people 
and  the  French ;  French  was  the  language  spoken 
by  the  most  of  them,  and  its  boundaries  at  all  times 
lay  open  to  invasion  by  a  French  army. 

Richelieu  fully  appreciated  the  importance  of  this 
province;  if  it  was  not  formally  annexed  to  the 
French  kingdom,  he  intended  that  the  policy  of  the 
Duke  of  Lorraine  should  be  controlled  by  the  King 
of  France.  But  not  even  Richelieu  could  control 
the  policy  of  a  duke  who  was  by  nature  so  fickle,  so 
rash,  and  so  indiscreet  that  his  actions  could  be 
governed  neither  by  counsel  nor  by  force.  A  judi- 
cious ruler  would  have  avoided  any  quarrel  with  a 
powerful  kingdom,  which  adjoined  his  own  posses- 
sions, but  Duke  Charles  gave  the  Cardinal  constant 
grounds  of  offence,  of  which  the  latter  was  quite 
ready  to  avail  himself. 

In  1632  the  French  invaded  Lorraine,  and  with 
little  trouble  took  possession  of  the  duchy.  Charles 
bought  his  peace  by  the  surrender  of  Clermont, 
Stenai,  and  Jametz,  a  result  which  Richelieu  sen- 
tentiously  remarked  should  teach  little  princes  not 
to  offend  great  princes.  The  duke  did  not  profit 
by  the  lesson,  but  continued  to  befriend  the  vagrant 
Gaston  and  to  oppose  Richelieu's  allies  in  Germany. 
Thereupon  the  French  again  invaded  Lorraine,  and 


154  Richelieu  [1624- 

this  time  Charles  could  only  make  terms  by  the  sur- 
render of  Nancy,  the  capital  of  his  province,  and 
the  most  strongly  fortified  city  in  it.  By  the  agree- 
ment made,  the  city  was  to  remain  in  French  pos- 
session until  all  difficulties  between  the  duke  and 
the  French  King  should  be  adjusted.  Richelieu  re- 
marked that  this  might  take  until  eternity,  and  he 
was  certainly  willing  that  it  should. 

The  difficulties  were  indeed  interminable.  The 
duke  constantly  offended  his  powerful  neighbour 
and  involved  his  province  in  hostilities  with  both 
France  and  Sweden.  The  Cardinal  was  an  im- 
perious protector  and  the  duke  was  very  loath  to 
be  protected.  The  turmoil  in  which  Lorraine  was 
involved  by  the  unwise  policy  of  its  ruler  rendered 
the  condition  of  the  inhabitants  almost  as  miserable 
as  that  of  the  sections  of  Germany  which  were  de- 
vastated by  the  Thirty  Years'  War.  The  land  was 
ravaged  by  Swedes  and  by  French;  crops  were  de- 
stroyed and  towns  burned ;  famine  alternated  with 
pestilence,  until  more  than  half  the  population  had 
perished  or  fled  from  the  country.  Richelieu  wrote 
that  a  century  would  be  required  to  repopulate  the 
burned  villages,  sacked  cities,  and  wasted  fields. 
But  the  ravages  of  war  are  soon  effaced  when  the 
husbandman  and  the  artisan  can  labour  in  security. 
As  a  result  of  all  these  bickerings,  in  1641  the 
French  took  possession  of  the  entire  province;  they 
held  it  for  more  than  twenty  years,  and  the  country 
enjoyed  comparative  freedom  from  commotion. 

Richelieu  hoped  that  the  province  would  now  be- 
come a  part  of  the  French  kingdom.  If  the  Duke 


1642]      The  Administration  of  Richelieu       155 

of  Lorraine  owed  feudal  obedience  to  the  King, 
wrote  the  Cardinal,  his  possessions  were  forfeited 
by  his  disloyal  conduct;  if  he  did  not,  the  province 
could  be  justly  held  as  a  prize  of  war,  and  the  min- 
ister insisted  that  no  surrender  of  conquered  terri- 
tory by  other  powers  should  be  regarded  as  an 
argument  for  the  surrender  of  Lorraine  by  France. 
It  was  still  in  French  hands  when  Richelieu  died, 
but  its  immediate  destiny  was  not  what  he  had 
hoped.  It  seemed  unlikely  that  France  would  sur- 
render the  province  after  holding  it  so  long,  but  in 
1663  it  was  restored  to  its  former  rulers,  and  Lor- 
raine, although  controlled  by  French  influence,  did 
not  become  a  part  of  that  kingdom  until  a  century 
later. 

In  most  respects  the  foreign  policy  which  Riche- 
lieu adopted  differed  from  that  which  found  accept- 
ance before  he  assumed  power.  Mary  de'  Medici 
had  sought  to  cement  a  union  between  France  and 
Spain  by  the  marriages  of  her  children  ;  the  Cardinal 
sought  in  every  way  to  check  the  growth  of  Span- 
ish power,  and  to  build  up  on  its  ruin  a  prepon- 
derating influence  for  France  in  European  politics. 
He  was  a  cardinal  of  the  Church,  but  religious 
sympathies  had  little  influence  upon  his  policy  as  a 
statesman.  He  entered  the  field  of  German  politics 
as  an  ally  of  Protestant  states,  and  to  protect  the 
liberties  of  Protestant  princes  from  the  encroach- 
ments of  a  Catholic  emperor.  When  such  was  his 
course,  it  was  certain  that  France  must  become  an 
actor  in  the  great  war  by  which  the  religious  and 
political  relations  of  Germany  were  to  be  settled. 


156 


Richelieu 


[1624-1642] 


Richelieu's  participation  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War 
was  the  most  important  measure  of  his  foreign 
policy ;  it  modified  the  future  of  Germany,  it  made 
France  the  leader  among  continental  powers,  it 
absorbed  the  resources  of  the  country  and  the  ener- 
gies of  the  minister  during  all  the  latter  years  of  his 
administration. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   THIRTY   YEARS'    WAR 
1618-1648  1 

THE  Thirty  Years'  War  began  before  Richelieu 
assumed  power,  and  raged  for  ten  years  before 
France  took  any  part.  Catholicism  and  Pro- 
testantism in  Germany  had  long  been  in  a  condition 
of  unstable  equilibrium,  and  the  succession  of  Fer- 
dinand II.,  a  fervent  Catholic  and  a  pupil  of  the 
Jesuits,  brought  on  the  inevitable  conflict.  The 
sympathies  of  France,  as  a  great  Catholic  power, 
would  naturally  have  been  with  Ferdinand.  Riche- 
lieu was  a  cardinal;  his  promotion  had  been  ad- 
vocated by  those  earnest  for  the  triumph  of 
Catholicism,  he  began  his  career  by  overthrowing 
the  power  of  the  Huguenots  in  France,  and  it  could 
not  have  been  expected  that  he  would  take  up  arms 
to  assist  heretics  against  the  head  of  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  contest,  the  expression 
of  French  opinion  was  on  the  whole  favourable  to 
Ferdinand  ;  he  had  apparently  no  reason  to  anticipate 

157 


158  Richelieu  [1618- 

interference  with  his  plans  for  restoring  to  the 
Church  what  she  had  lost,  and,  if  France  had  not 
interfered,  it  is  probable  that  the  triumph  of  Catho- 
licism in  Germany  would  have  been  complete.  For 
ten  years,  Ferdinand's  career  was  one  of  almost  un- 
broken success.  Frederick,  the  Elector  Palatine, 
the  unlucky  son-in-law  of  James  I.  of  England,  was 
called  to  the  throne  of  Bohemia  by  the  Protestants, 
whose  privileges  were  disregarded.  Not  only  was 
he  speedily  defeated  and  driven  from  the  country, 
but  his  hereditary  dominions  were  overrun  by  the 
imperial  armies,  and  he  found  himself  a  homeless 
wanderer. 

Success  incited  Ferdinand  to  new  efforts.  When 
he  mounted  the  throne,  the  majority  of  his  subjects 
in  Austria,  Bohemia,  and  Hungary  were  Protestant; 
by  a  merciless  persecution,  he  crushed  out  heresy  in 
all  his  hereditary  possessions,  and  he  now  hoped  for 
much  greater  things.  Protestant  rulers  in  Germany 
held  vast  possessions,  that  had  once  been  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Church,  and  their  title,  as  Ferdinand 
believed,  was  based  on  a  denial  of  God's  rights.  It 
was  true  that. this  condition  of  things  had  long 
existed,  that  the  titles  of  these  rulers  had  been 
recognised  by  numerous  treaties,  and  formed  an 
acknowledged  part  of  the  political  system  of  Ger- 
many. Such  arguments  were  deemed  of  no  weight 
by  the  Jesuit  advisers  to  whom  Ferdinand  listened. 
"  No  agreement  of  man,"  they  said,  "  could  avail 
against  the  rights  of  God,  no  statute  of  limitations 
ran  against  the  Almighty." 

Accordingly,  in  1629,  Ferdinand  issued  the  famous 


16481  The  Thirty  Years    War  159 


1 


Edict  of  Restitution,  by  which  he  directed  that  all 
:cclesiastical  property  confiscated  since  the  Treaty 
of  Passau  should  be  returned  to  its  lawful  owners. 
If  this  could  have  been  carried  into  effect,  it  would 
have  crippled  the  power  of  almost  every  Protestant 
prince  of  Germany,  and  a  great  step  would  have 
been  taken  towards  securing  the  complete  ascend- 
ancy of  the  Catholic  Church  in  that  country.  And 
it  seemed  that  it  might  be  carried  into  effect,  for 
the  Protestants  were  unable  to  resist  the  Emperor's 
forces.  In  the  past,  his  progress  had  often  been 
checked,  because  the  Catholic  princes  feared  the 
growth  of  imperial  power,  but  he  was  no  longer  de- 
pendent on  those  uncertain  allies.  Wallenstein  had 
revolutionised  the  military  system  of  the  land,  he 
had  collected  a  great  army,  united  by  the  hope  of 
plunder  and  by  confidence  in  the  genius  of  its 
leader;  this  force  was  enlisted  in  the  Emperor's  serv- 
ice, and  all  Germany  was  overawed  by  it.  With 
such  an  army,  and  with  Wallenstein  as  his  general, 
Ferdinand  was  strong  enough  to  render  his  authority 
over  the  scattered  members  of  the  Empire  no  longer 
a  pretence  but  a  reality. 

The  vastness  of  Ferdinand's  plans  prevented  their 
accomplishment.  He  would  have  been  left  un- 
hindered by  Richelieu,  if  he  had  only  sought  to 
exterminate  heresy.  Though  the  Cardinal  was  too 
wise  to  weaken  his  own  country  by  expelling  Pro- 
testants from  it,  he  was  not  inclined  to  interfere  in 
their  behalf  elsewhere ;  if  he  had  no  strong  sympathy 
with  persecution,  he  had  no  strong  prejudice  against 
it.  But  the  success  of  Ferdinand's  policy  would 


160  Richelieu  [1618- 

greatly  strengthen  the  Empire  of  which  he  was  the 
head.  Richelieu  had  no  wish  to  see  a  united  Ger- 
many, even  if  it  were  united  under  the  leadership  of 
a  good  Catholic ;  with  him  political  ambition  was 
stronger  than  religious  sympathy.  Moreover,  the 
Emperor  and  the  King  of  Spain  were  allied  in  blood 
and  in  religious  zeal;  if  the  overweening  power  of 
the  House  of  Austria  were  to  be  checked,  it  was 
necessary  for  France  to  arrest  the  victorious  career 
of  Ferdinand  II. 

In  1630,  the  fortunes  of  Ferdinand  were  at  their 
zenith ;  he  had  crushed  heresy  in  his  hereditary 
dominions,  thousands  of  families  had  been  driven 
into  exile,  towns  had  been  destroyed,  and  fields  laid 
waste,  but  the  ascendancy  of  the  Catholic  faith  was 
permanently  assured.  The  Elector  Palatine  was 
still  an  exile,  resistance  to  the  imperial  orders 
was  hardly  attempted,  and  the  Edict  of  Restitution 
threatened  the  political  existence  of  most  German 
princes  of  the  Reformed  faith. 

But  the  animosity  of  the  minor  Catholic  powers 
had  already  compelled  Ferdinand  to  dismiss  from 
his  service  his  ablest  general.  It  was  not  strange 
that  Wallenstein  was  hated  by  all  save  his  own 
soldiers;  he  was  a  cold  and  ruthless  man,  and  his 
great  horde  of  mercenaries  plundered  friend  and  foe 
alike,  demanding  contributions  from  the  faithful, 
levying  toll  upon  the  heretic,  and  enforcing  all  de- 
mands by  prompt  and  impartial  pillage.  Deaf  to 
complaints  and  indifferent  to  animosities,  Wallen- 
stein had  proceeded  on  his  victorious  career,  exer- 
cising such  a  control  over  the  soldiers  who  profited 


ALBERT    VON    WALLENSTEIN. 

DUKE   OF    FHIEDLANO   AND   MECKLENBURG. 


1648]  The  Thirty  Years    War  161 

by  the  license  their  leader  allowed  that  he  believed 
the  Emperor  would  not  venture  to  disgrace  him. 

If  Ferdinand  feared  Wallenstein's  dangerous  ambi- 
tion, he  was  loath  to  dismiss  a  general  at  whose  name 
an  army  had  collected  strong  enough  to  insure  vic- 
tory and  overawe  opposition.  But  the  complaints 
of  his  allies  and  of  the  electors,  from  whom  he  de- 
sired to  secure  his  son's  election  as  King  of  the 
Romans,  at  last  obtained  his  consent  to  Wallen- 
stein's overthrow.  Father  Joseph  attended  the 
council  where  this  was  decided  upon,  and  it  was 
said  his  insidious  advice  had  much  to  do  with  Wal- 
lenstein's dismissal.  However  this  may  be,  the 
general  was  relieved  of  his  command,  and  to  the 
surprise  of  most,  he  submitted  without  resistance. 
"  The  Emperor  has  been  betrayed,"  he  said;  "  I 
pity  him,  but  I  forgive  him."  He  withdrew  to 
Bohemia,  where  he  lived  in  strict  retirement,  waiting 
until  Ferdinand  in  his  sore  need  should  again  call 
him  from  his  retreat. 

The  loss  of  their  commander  was  a  serious  one  to 
the  imperial  armies,  when  for  the  first  time  they 
were  to  be  opposed  by  a  great  general ;  and  in  the 
hour  ot  Ferdinand's  great  prosperity  the  condition 
of  affairs  was  changed  by  the  appearance  of  a  new 
enemy.  Apparently  the  Emperor  had  little  to  fear 
from  Sweden ;  that  kingdom  was  neither  populous 
nor  rich ;  it  was  far  removed,  and  had  taken  little 
part  in  German  politics.  But  the  Swedish  King 
was  Gustavus  Adolphus,  a  man  of  thirty-six,  who 
had  gained  reputation  as  a  valiant  soldier;  he  was 
ambitious,  he  was  a  fervent  Protestant,  and  was 


1 62  Richelieu  M618- 

ready  to  embark  in  the  cause  of  his  persecuted  breth- 
ren. Richelieu  had  already  decided  that  France 
must  take  measures  to  check  the  growth  of  Austrian 
power,  and,  in  1628,  by  a  secret  treaty  he  promised 
Gustavus  a  subsidy  if  he  would  invade  Germany. 
After  some  delay  the  Swedish  King  resolved  to 
undertake  the  perilous  enterprise.  In  1630  he  bade 
a  solemn  farewell  to  his  own  people. 

"  God  is  my  witness,"  he  said,  "  that  I  do  not  fight 
from  any  lust  for  war,  but  the  Emperor  has  insulted  my 
ambassadors,  oppressed  my  friends  and  persecuted  my 
religion.  .  .  .  The  downtrodden  states  of  Germany 
cry  to  us  for  help,  and  God  willing,  we  will  give  it  to 
them." 

In  June  he  landed  on  the  coast  of  Pomerania,  but 
those  he  came  to  save  were  in  such  awe  of  the  Em- 
peror that  they  feared  to  rally  around  the  standard 
of  their  deliverer.  At  Vienna  the  invasion  was  re- 
garded with  contempt.  '  This  snow  king  will  soon 
melt  away  "  was  the  universal  sentiment. 

The  force  which  Gustavus  led  from  Sweden  was 
not  large,  but  it  was  composed  of  the  best  soldiers 
in  the  world;  men  well  drilled  in  tactics,  well 
versed  in  their  catechism,  who  waged  war  with 
conviction  as  well  as  valour,  and  fought  and  prayed 
with  equal  zeal.  He  had  more  than  the  piety  of 
his  soldiers  in  which  to  trust,  for,  in  1631,  Riche- 
lieu made  a  further  treaty  with  Sweden,  by  which 
Gustavus  was  promised  a  large  subsidy.  This 
treaty  the  Swedish  King  at  once  made  public,  and, 
fortified  by  the  open  alliance  of  France,  he  no  longer 


TWZ  3?  !*W^ 

QU8TAVUS    ADOLPHUS   II. 


1648]  The  Thirty  Years    War  163 

appeared  as  a  forlorn  and  needy  adventurer.  Riche- 
lieu wished  to  check  the  imperial  power,  but  he 
wished  also  to  obtain  what  advantages  he  could  for 
those  of  his  faith,  and  he  asked  Gustavus  to  agree 
that  the  exercise  of  the  Catholic  religion  should 
again  be  allowed  in  places  where  it  had  been  forbid- 
den. But  the  Swedish  King  was  unwilling  to  alien- 
ate the  Protestant  princes  whose  aid  he  desired;  he 
promised  that  Catholics  should  not  be  disturbed  in 
the  exercise  of  their  faith  where  it  was  already 
allowed,  and  with  this  Richelieu  was  forced  to  be 
content. 

For  a  while  the  fate  of  Gustavus's  expedition 
seemed  doubtful.  The  imperial  army  captured  the 
great  city  of  Magdeburg;  it  was  laid  waste  until 
hardly  one  stone  remained  upon  another,  and  Tilly 
boasted  that  such  devastation  had  not  been  wit- 
nessed since  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  This 
lamentable  victory  was  to  be  his  last.  On  Septem- 
ber 17,  1631,  the  opposing  armies  met  on  the  field 
of  Breitenfeld.  Tilly  suffered  a  crushing  defeat, 
the  imperial  army  lost  nineteen  thousand  men,  and 
Gustavus  established  his  position  as  the  greatest 
captain  in  Europe. 

Like  Napoleon,  he  understood  the  art  of  utilising 
victory;  one  battle  made  him  the  dictator  of  Ger- 
many. He  marched  to  the  Rhine,  and  by  the  time 
he  reached  it  his  army  of  twenty-four  thousand 
had  grown  to  sixty  thousand ;  all  Protestant  Ger- 
many rallied  to  his  cause,  and  the  Catholic  princes 
made  the  best  terms  they  could.  He  crossed  the 
river,  but  the  success  of  Richelieu's  ally  exceeded 


164  Richelieu  [1618- 

Richelieu's  desires,  and  his  approach  to  Lorraine  was 
viewed  with  ill-concealed  apprehension.  Gustavus 
did  not  wish  to  alienate  a  powerful  friend;  he  re- 
crossed  the  Rhine,  and  by  March,  1632,  he  had 
driven  the  Duke  of  Bavaria  from  Munich,  and  the 
whole  of  Southern  Germany  was  at  his  mercy. 

In  the  hour  of  prosperity  the  Emperor  had  been 
willing  to  sacrifice  Wallenstein  to  the  animosity  of 
his  enemies,  but  in  his  sore  distress  he  turned  to  the 
great  general  as  his  only  hope  of  salvation.  His 
appeals  met  with  a  chilly  reception.  After  his  dis- 
missal, Wallenstein  had  led  a  life  of  solitary  grandeur 
in  his  castle  in  Bohemia,  holding  little  intercourse 
with  man,  poring  over  the  mysteries  of  astrology, 
and  seeking  to  read  in  the  stars  the  secret  of  his 
fate.  He  told  the  Emperor's  messengers  that  he 
was  done  with  earthly  ambitions,  and  sought  only 
rest  and  retirement,  and  it  was  long  before  he  would 
give  any  other  answer.  At  last  he  was  induced  to 
come  from  his  retreat,  but  he  did  so  only  upon  con- 
dition that  his  army  should  be  absolutely  under  his 
own  command,  and  the  Emperor  himself  should 
neither  direct  its  movements  nor  control  its  leader. 
It  was  suggested  that  Ferdinand's  son  might  be  as- 
sociated in  the  command.  "  I  will  have  no  asso- 
ciate," was  Wallenstein's  reply,  "  not  if  God 
Himself  wished  to  divide  the  command  with  me." 

As  soon  as  Wallenstein  appeared  in  the  field  a 
great  army  rallied  at  the  call  of  the  victorious  gen- 
eral, but  whether  he  was  unwilling  to  risk  defeat,  or 
uncertain  in  which  way  he  could  best  advance  his 
own  fortunes,  he  was  slow  in  putting  his  forces  to 


COUNT  VON    TILLY. 


1648]  The  Thirty  Years    War  165 

any  useful  purpose.  Gustavus  invaded  Bavaria  and 
proceeded  to  lay  waste  the  country.  Hitherto  it 
had-  escaped  the  miseries  of  war;  the  fields  were 
tilled,  the  houses  unburned,  the  barns  filled  with 
produce,  and  the  pockets  of  the  burghers  filled  with 
money.  It  could,  therefore,  furnish  rich  plunder, 
and  as  pillagers  there  was  now  little  difference  be- 
tween the  armies  of  the  Emperor  and  the  armies  of 
Sweden.  A  host  of  mercenaries  had  been  added 
to  the  little  force  of  God-fearing  men  with  whom 
Gustavus  landed  in  Germany,  and  never  has  the 
science  of  devastation  been  practised  more  thor- 
oughly than  by  the  armies  which  laid  waste  German 
soil  during  the  Thirty  Years'  War. 

The  Duke  of  Bavaria  cried  loudly  for  aid,  but 
Wallenstein  hated  the  duke,  and  would  not  hasten 
to  his  assistance.  The  Emperor  was  powerless  to 
give  orders,  and  Wallenstein  viewed  the  devastation 
of  Bavaria  with  calmness  and  content.  At  last  he 
consented  to  join  his  forces  with  the  Bavarian  army, 
and  the  allies  laid  siege  to  Nuremberg.  Gustavus 
led  his  troops  to  the  relief  of  the  town,  and  the 
armies  camped  opposite  one  another  before  that 
ancient  city.  For  more  than  two  months  they 
watched  each  other,  until  forty  thousand  men 
had  perished  from  disease,  and  the  surrounding 
country  was  laid  so  bare  that  sufficient  food  for 
the  troops  could  no  longer  be  found.  Then  .Gus- 
tavus broke  camp  and  marched  away,  and  Wallen- 
stein followed. 

On  November  16,  1632,  fourteen  months  after  the 
victory  at  Breitenfeld,  the  armies  met  at  Lutzen, 


1 66  Richelieu  [1618- 

almost  in  sight  of  the  former  battle-field.  Within 
that  short  period  the  aspect  of  the  war  had  changed. 
Then  Ferdinand  had  hoped  to  crush  out  dissent  and 
establish  his  power  over  all  Germany;  now  he  feared 
for  the  safety  of  his  hereditary  dominions.  If  Gus- 
tavus  had  conquered  at  Liitzen  and  lived  to  utilise 
his  victory,  the  history  of  Germany  would  have  been 
changed,  but  this  was  not  to  be.  The  King  prayed 
before  his  troops,  they  sang  a  hymn  to  the  God  of 
battles,  and  then  marched  against  Wallenstein.  The 
battle  was  stubbornly  contested,  and  at  last  the 
Swedes  were  left  in  possession  of  the  field,  but  they 
had  won  a  disastrous  victory.  Gustavus  exposed 
himself  with  his  usual  reckless  courage;  he  was 
mortally  wounded  and  fell  dead  on  the  battle-field. 
In  little  over  a  year  he  had  made  himself  the  fore- 
most man  in  Europe;  he  had  established  his  repu- 
tation as  one  of  the  world's  great  captains,  he  had 
become  the  hero  of  Protestantism,  he  had  gained  a 
fame  which  is  fresh  after  more  than  two  centuries, 
and  will  endure  for  centuries  yet  to  come. 

It  is  doubtful  if  Richelieu  heard  of  Gustavus's 
death  with  regret;  the  genie  which  the  Cardinal 
had  evoked  proved  so  potent  that  he  was  filled  with 
apprehension.  He  wished  to  check  Ferdinand's 
power,  but  when  the  morning  mists  broke  before 
the  battle  of  Liitzen,  Gustavus  was  more  powerful 
than  Ferdinand  had  ever  been.  If  the  King  had 
lived,  it  is  certain  that  the  alliance  between  France 
and  Sweden  would  sooner  or  later  have  come  to  an 
end.  Gustavus  was  not  the  man  to  shape  his 
policy  to  suit  the  views  of  another,  his  victories 


• 

/  /«^   -*,     < 

' 


~+LJkA  «M«»»D 
;•••;',••'!  :.~-    .^McM 

•~-'~*".:>Z.>~:':. 


~isi-^''  ..j^*^  /• '/'  •  />:. ^ - '  . *'  "  ''*?' 

^-^\^- .--:  /  j&i+i0ii&a 


PLAN   OF  TH 
Explanation  of  Terms. — Ordnung  der  Schevcdischen  Armeen  ( 


1648]  The  Thirty  Years    War  167 

rendered  him  independent  of  French  aid,  he  would 
have  built  up  a  Protestant  empire  that  might  have 
changed  the  future  of  Germany,  and  would  have 
seemed  to  Richelieu  more  dangerous  than  the  House 
of  Austria. 

All  this  was  altered  by  the  death  of  Gustavus, 
for  there  was  no  one  to  execute  the  great  designs 
that  had  been  possible  for  his  genius.  As  a  result 
of  his  victories,  a  large  part  of  Germany  had  ranged 
itself  under  his  leadership,  and  Sweden  was  the  head 
of  a  loosely  formed  confederation  to  which  France 
furnished  pecuniary  aid.  After  Gustavus's  death, 
this  combination  of  diverse  interests  was  in  peril  of 
dissolution,  and  Richelieu  decided  that  France  must 
take  more  active  part  in  the  war,  or  the  results  that 
had  been  attained  would  soon  be  lost.  But  a  formal 
declaration  of  war  was  still  averted,  and,  for  a  while, 
the  French  furnished  assistance  in  money  rather 
than  in  men. 

Gustavus  was  succeeded  on  the  throne  by  his 
young  daughter  Christina,  and  the  command  of  the 
Swedish  army  was  assumed  by  Chancellor  Oxen- 
stierna,  who  held  a  position  in  Sweden  as  command- 
ing as  that  of  Richelieu  in  France.  For  a  while 
fortune  favoured  the  allies  notwithstanding  the  loss 
of  their  leader,  and  the  death  of  Gustavus  was  soon 
followed  by  the  murder  of  the  imperial  general. 
The  mystery  of  the  intrigues  in  which  the  last 
months  of  Wallenstein's  life  were  passed  has  never 
been  fully  solved ;  his  policy  was  controlled  by 
ambition,  and  he  deliberated  long  whether  he  could 
better  further  his  interests  by  loyalty  or  by  treason. 


1 68  Richelieu  [1618- 

On  the  whole,  he  seems  to  have  decided  that  to 
betray  his  master  would  be  the  best  means  of  ad- 
vancing his  fortunes  and  punishing  his  enemies. 

It  was  believed  that  the  great  condottiere  could 
lead  his  army  to  any  cause  which  he  espoused,  and 
the  bids  were  high;  if  he  would  declare  war  on  the 
Emperor,  whose  subject  he  was,  he  was  promised 
by  the  Swedes  a  subsidy  of  a  million  and  the  crown 
of  Bohemia.  The  crown  was  the  object  on  which 
his  gaze  was  fixed,  but  he  had  been  so  long  involved 
in  plots  and  counter-plots,  that  he  lacked  decision 
when  the  moment  for  action  came.  While  he  was 
still  meditating  on  treason,  he  was  murdered  by 
some  of  his  followers,  who  had  learned  from  him  to 
regard  fighting  as  a  means  of  gain,  and  who  killed 
their  general  to  be  rewarded  by  the  Emperor. 
Ferdinand  could  well  afford  to  be  liberal  to  the 
assassins,  for  they  removed  a  great  danger,  and 
shattered  the  hopes  which  France  and  Sweden  had 
built  on  Wallenstein's  treason. 

The  allies  now  had  to  trust  to  fair  fighting,  and 
the  conflict  continued  with  varying  success.  In 
1635,  war  was  formally  declared  by  France  against 
Ferdinand  and  Spain,  and  from  that  time  until 
Richelieu's  death  the  contest  engaged  his  attention 
and  absorbed  the  resources  of  the  country.  Not 
until  six  years  after  his  death  was  the  long  struggle 
ended,  but  the  results  were  sufficient  compensation 
for  what  the  war  had  cost.  Apart  from  the  pacific- 
ation of  Germany,  and  the  end  of  the  religious  war- 
fare,which  for  two  centuries  had  devastated  Europe, 
France  gained  important  accessions  to  her  territory, 


1648]  The  Thirty  Years    War  169 

and  her  position  was  established  as  the  foremost  of 
the  great  powers. 

These  results  were  attained  only  by  years  of  ex- 
haustive strife,  and  during  Richelieu's  administration 
the  contest  was  carried  on  with  dogged  pertinacity, 
but  with  only  moderate  success.  The  Cardinal  was 
sagacious  in  choosing  the  wisest  policy  for  France, 
but  he  had  not  the  ability  to  bring  a  war  to  a  speedy 
and  successful  termination.  If  he  retained  enough 
of  his  early  studies  to  have  some  taste  for  the  details 
of  warfare,  he  manifested  no  talent  for  its  conduct. 
A  valetudinarian  priest  could  not  be  blamed  if  he 
was  unskilful  in  planning  campaigns,  and  directing 
the  movements  of  armies,  but  Richelieu  had  not  a 
keen  eye  to  detect  military  genius  in  others. 

In  war  as  in  peace,  he  was  fond  of  employing  the 
clergy,  and  he  sometimes  considered  martial  skill  in 
his  ecclesiastical  promotions.  In  recommending  a 
candidate  for  the  archbishopric  of  Nancy,  he  writes, 
"  He  is  a  gentleman  of  learning,  well  fitted  to  preach 
in  the  city,  and,  if  need  arises,  able  to  protect  it." 
Cardinal  La  Valette  for  some  years  commanded  an 
army  on  the  German  frontier.  The  Archbishop  of 
Bordeaux  was  admiral  of  the  fleet,  the  Bishops  of 
Mende  and  Nismes  took  an  active  part  in  the  siege 
of  La  Rochelle,  and  these  were  not  the  only  repre- 
sentatives of  the  church  militant  in  the  French  serv- 
ice. Some  of  them  were  fair  soldiers,  for  bishops, 
but  these  Episcopal  warriors  showed  no  genius  for 
warfare,  and  the  Cardinal  would  have  been  better 
served  if  he  had  not  asked  his  clergy  to  buckle  on 
armour  over  their  dalmaticas. 


1 70  Richelieu  rieie- 

The  only  one  of  his  generals  who  showed  any 
special  talent  was  Bernard,  Duke  of  Weimar,  a  high- 
born freebooter,  who  had  been  trained  under  Gus- 
tavus,  and  who  served  for  pay,  plunder,  and  glory. 
He  was  employed  in  the  French  service,  and,  if  his 
wages  were  high,  he  earned  them  by  his  victories, 
but  in  1639,  when  he  was  only  thirty-six,  his  career 
was  checked  by  death. 

Not  only  were  the  leaders,  for  the  most  part,  of 
mediocre  capacity,  but  the  armies  they  led  were  ill 
equipped  and  ill  disciplined,  and  it  is  not  strange 
that  at  the  close  of  a  campaign  the  war  was  generally 
no  nearer  an  end  than  at  the  beginning.  There  are 
as  marked  differences  between  the  seventeenth  and 
nineteenth  centuries  in  the  methods  of  warfare,  as 
in  the  methods  of  travel.  An  army  of  to-day  differs 
from  one  under  Louis  XIII.  as  much  as  a  modern 
railroad  differs  from  a  muddy  highway.  The  enorm- 
ous armies  of  our  age  were  unknown,  not  only  be- 
cause the  population  was  smaller,  but  because  to 
equip  and  feed  such  numbers  of  men  would  have 
been  impossible.  A  sight  of  the  soldiers  of  those 
days  would  appall  a  rigid  disciplinarian  of  our  time. 
Uniforms,  which  produce  at  least  a  semblance  of 
order  and  discipline,  were  usually  lacking.  The 
captain  of  a  company  was  generally  allowed  a  fixed 
sum  by  the  Government  to  feed  and  clothe  his  com- 
mand, and  the  men  were  often  ill  fed  and  clad  in 
rags,  while  the  officer  drew  allowances  not  only  for 
those  in  service  but  for  soldiers  who  never  answered 
to  roll-call. 

The  letters  of  the  time  are  full  of  complaints  as 


1648]  The  Thirty  Years    War  171 

to  the  condition  of  the  French  troops,  yet  it  was 
doubtless  quite  as  good  as  that  of  their  allies  or  their 
adversaries.  Modern  shortcomings,  shoddy  clothes 
or  bad  beef,  over  which  so  great  an  outcry  arises, 
are  trivial  when  compared  with  the  grievances  and 
abuses  of  the  past.  Louis  himself  wrote  the  Car- 
dinal from  the  army  in  1635:  "There  is  neither 
money  nor  provisions,  the  soldiers  are  on  the  point 
of  disbanding  if  they  are  not  promptly  provided 
for."  '  Having  found  neither  troops  nor  pro- 
visions," he  writes  again,  "  I  cannot  advance." 
'  For  six  days  we  could  do  nothing,"  writes  a  mar- 
shal, "  because  there  was  not  bread  enough  for  a 
third  of  the  army."  '  The  soldiers  are  begging  for 
alms  and  dying  of  hunger,"  is  the  message  from 
another  officer.  In  such  complaints,  there  was 
possibly  some  exaggeration,  but  there  was  much 
truth,  and  these  conditions,  if  not  chronic,  were  not 
infrequent. 

The  army  was  largely  composed  of  mercenaries ; 
the  universal  service  of  modern  times  was  unknown, 
and  those  wars  of  political  ambition  rarely  excited 
any  patriotic  fervour,  which  might  in  some  degree 
atone  for  lack  in  military  training.  In  the  French 
army  were  found  Poles,  Swiss,  Germans,  Scotch, 
and  men  of  almost  every  European  nationality. 
Richelieu  was  in  constant  search  of  foreign  merce- 
naries, believing  they  could  do  their  work  better 
than  untrained  French  recruits.  The  Duke  of 
Weimar  had  a  large  force  of  well-disciplined  men  in 
his  pay,  and,  when  he  died,  it  was  regarded  as  a 
great  achievement  that  Louis  XIII.  outbid  all 


1 72  Richelieu  [1618- 

competitors  and  secured  them  for  his  own  service. 
The  chance  to  buy  an  army  was  watched  as  a  mod- 
ern dealer  watches  the  chance  to  buy  some  rare  col- 
lection. When  thet  Duke  of  Neuburg  announced 
his  neutrality,  an  agent  started  in  hot  haste  to  pur- 
chase the  soldiers  whom  he  was  about  to  disband. 
Other  agents  were  endeavouring  to  buy  troops  of 
the  Elector  of  Saxony;  the  military  market  was 
one  of  the  most  active  in  Europe. 

These  mercenaries  were  not  so  sparing  of  their 
blood  as  the  Italian  mercenaries  centuries  before, 
but  soldiers  of  that  sort,  even  if  they  are  willing  to 
earn  their  pay  by  an  occasional  fight,  are  rarely 
eager  for  war  to  end.  The  peace  which  allows  the 
patriot  to  return  to  his  home  leaves  the  mercenary 
out  of  a  job. 

Another  reason  why  years  passed  without  import- 
ant military  change  was  that  often  the  campaigns 
did  not  extend  over  more  than  four  months,  for  a 
long  campaign  is  only  possible  when  food  and  cloth- 
ing and  ammunition  are  furnished  with  regularity 
and  abundance.  Moreover,  in  bad  weather,  the 
roads  were  almost  impassable;  the  condition  of  Vir- 
ginian roads  during  the  American  Civil  War  was  the 
ordinary  condition  of  European  roads  two  centuries 
ago.  When  many  soldiers  were  barefooted  and  all 
were  ill  equipped,  when  horses  were  lacking  to  draw 
the  baggage-waggons,  and  pontoons  were  lacking  to 
cross  the  rivers,  only  extraordinary  energy  could 
conduct  an  army  over  highways  that  in  bad  weather 
bore  great  resemblance  to  morasses.  The  cam- 
paigns were  generally  brief;  late  in  the  spring  an 


1648]  The  Thirty  Years    War  173 

army  left  its  winter  quarters,  and  early  in  the 
autumn  it  was  usually  back  in  them. 

Gustavus  won  his  marvellous  successes  because  he 
adopted  new  methods  of  warfare.  When  he  first 
invaded  Germany,  the  Austrian  commander  sug- 
gested at  the  approach  of  cold  weather  that  both 
armies  should  go  into  winter  quarters  and  wait  com- 
fortably for  the  return  of  summer.  The  Emperor 
heard  with  amazement  that  the  Swedes  made  war  in 
winter  as  well  as  in  summer;  and  the  unparalleled 
rapidity  of  his  movements  enabled  Gustavus  to  ac- 
complish more  in  fourteen  months  than  his  successors 
did  in  fourteen  years. 

The  number  of  men  put  in  the  field  by  the 
French  was  large  for  those  days.  Richelieu  de- 
clared to  Louis  that  the  one  hundred  and  eighty 
thousand  men  whom  he  had  in  actual  service,  the 
two  fleets  at  sea,  and  the  great  subsidies  paid  to 
allies,  costing  in  all  sixty  million  livres  each  year, 
would  show  to  posterity  the  power  of  France  during 
his  reign.  Posterity  numbers  its  armies  by  millions 
and  its  expenses  by  milliards,  but  then  the  national 
wealth  was  not  a  tithe  of  what  it  is  now,  and  these 
exertions  were  a  severe  strain  on  the  resources  of 
the  country;  taxation  was  high;  the  plans  for  com- 
mercial development,  which  had  once  engaged 
Richelieu's  attention,  were  forgotten  in  the  stress 
of  war;  if  the  Cardinal's  administration  was  full  of 
glory,  it  was  not  productive  of  happiness.  But  he 
was  discouraged  by  no  disaster  and  carried  on  the 
contest  with  grim  and  merciless  tenacity.  '  He 
sacrificed,"  says  Martin,  "  not  without  regret,  but 


1 74  Richelieu  [1618- 

vvithout  remorse,  the  generation  that  passes  away, 
to  the  fatherland  which  does  not  pass  away." 

Wallenstein  was  murdered  in  February,  1634.  In 
the  next  year  the  Swedes  suffered  a  severe  defeat  at 
Nordlingen  ;  twelve  thousand  of  their  men  were  left 
dead  on  the  field  of  battle,  and  a  great  part  of  Gus- 
tavus's  conquests  were  lost  in  a  day.  This  mis- 
fortune was  presently  followed  by  the  desertion  of 
the  electors  of  Saxony  and  Brandenburg,  who  made 
a  separate  peace  with  Ferdinand. 

In  1636,  an  invasion  of  France  by  Spain  threat- 
ened to  bring  the  war  to  a  disastrous  end.  The 
northern  frontier  was  insufficiently  protected,  and 
in  July  the  Spanish  army  pushed  boldly  into  Picardy. 
They  advanced  rapidly,  meeting  with  little  opposi- 
tion, and  laying  waste  the  country  as  they  passed; 
in  a  few  days  they  were  less  than  one  hundred  miles 
from  Paris;  the  capture  of  the  city  seemed  probable 
and  was  certainly  possible.  No  foreign  army  had 
entered  Paris  since  the  English  wars,  and  there  had 
been  no  time  when  it  even  seemed  in  danger  since 
the  victory  of  Egmont  at  St.  Quentin ;  if  the  capital 
had  been  sacked  as  a  result  of  the  wars  in  which 
Richelieu  had  involved  France,  the  career  of  fhe 
Cardinal  would  have  ended  in  shame  and  humilia- 
tion. As  the  danger  became  imminent,  the  com- 
plaints grew  louder;  the  Cardinal,  it  was  said,  had 
plunged  the  country  into  wars  which  he  had  not 
the  ability  to  manage;  he  sat  in  his  great  palace, 
planning  impossible  conquests  and  listening  to  fool- 
ish comedies,  while  the  approach  to  Paris  was  left 
unguarded  until  the  enemy  was  at  the  gate.  The 


1648]  The  Thirty  Years    War  175 

King  was  impatient  of  disaster,  and  he  would  have 
abandoned  Richelieu  had  his  policy  resulted  in 
defeat.  Louis  was  now  sullen  and  taciturn,  and 
listened  in  silent  moodiness  to  evil  tidings  from 
every  quarter. 

There  were  mistakes  in  Richelieu's  policy  and 
foibles  in  his  character,  but  in  great  crises  he  showed 
that  degree  of  energy  and  courage  which  awes  con- 
temporaries and  attracts  posterity.  By  his  example, 
he  inspired  the  King  who  disliked  him,  and  the 
public  which  hated  him.  There  was  nothing  in  his 
conduct  on  this  occasion,  writes  an  unfriendly  wit- 
ness, that  was  not  brave  and  grand. 

Disregarding  the  danger  from  muttering  groups  of 
discontented  men,  he  drove  through  the  streets  of 
Paris,  attended  only  by  a  few  servants,  exhorting  all 
to  rally  to  the  country's  defence.  His  courage 
turned  the  tide ;  instead  of  an  object  of  hatred,  the 
Cardinal,  for  the  time  at  least,  was  the  centre  about 
whom  all  gathered  in  the  hour  of  national  peril. 
Paris  witnessed  one  of  the  great  patriotic  uprisings 
which  have  been  frequent  in  her  history.  Rich  and 
poor  were  stirred  by  the  cry  that  the  country  was 
in  danger;  the  Parliament  agreed  to  equip  and  pay 
two  thousand  men,  the  city  furnished  four  thousand, 
the  shoe-makers'  guild  sent  fifteen  hundred,  and  the 
butchers,  three  thousand;  every  man  who  owned  a 
carriage  furnished  one  horse  to  mount  a  cavalryman  ; 
labour  was  in  part  suspended  that  journeymen  and 
apprentices  might  go  to  the  front,  the  artisan  worked 
with  fewer  men,  the  carriages  were  drawn  with  fewer 
horses.  The  syndics  of  the  various  trades  waited 


1 76  Richelieu  [1618- 

upon  the  King  to  proffer  their  aid,  and  he  embraced 
them  all,  even  to  the  cobblers;  the  cobblers  gave 
five  thousand  livres  in  their  patriotic  pride,  and  the 
other  orders  contributed  liberally. 

There  had  been  only  a  few  hours  in  which  it 
might  have  been  possible  to  capture  Paris  by  a  sud- 
den advance;  they  were  allowed  to  pass,  and  the 
opportunity  did  not  return.  Louis  took  the  field  at 
the  head  of  an  army  of  over  forty  thousand  men, 
and  the  invaders  were  content  to  retreat  unmolested 
and  carry  away  their  plunder  in  safety. 

The  invasion  of  1636  marked  the  most  disastrous 
period  of  the  war.  Although  the  French  and  their 
allies  made  slow  progress,  on  the  whole  they  fared 
better  than  their  adversaries.  In  1637,  Ferdinand 
II.  died,  closing  a  career  which  had  caused  untold 
misery  to  the  world,  had  laid  waste  a  great  part  of 
Germany,  and  checked  the  material  and  intellectual 
growth  of  the  country  for  a  century.  Though  his 
hopes  had  not  been  fully  realised,  and  the  Edict  of 
Restitution  proved  incapable  of  execution,  the  com- 
plete ascendancy  of  Catholicism  in  the  hereditary 
dominions  of  the  House  of  Austria  was  assured.  It 
had  been  the  project  dearest  to  the  Emperor's  heart, 
he  had  hesitated  at  no  means  to  secure  that  end, 
and  he  had  not  failed  in  his  purpose.  So  his  life 
was  crowned  with  the  success  which  he  most  desired. 
He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Ferdinand  III.,  his 
superior  in  humanity  and  his  inferior  in  strength  of 
will. 

Ferdinand's  death  produced  little  effect.  Except 
some  victories  which  Bernard  of  Weimar  won  for 


1648]  The  Thirty  Years    War  177 

his  employers,  there  were  no  important  successes  on 
either  side.  With  ill-equipped  armies,  inefficient 
generals,  and  brief  campaigns,  the  contest  dragged 
along,  and  neither  party  could  force  its  adversary  to 
terms. 

Yet,  as  the  years  went  by,  both  Spain  and  the 
Empire  showed  increasing  signs  of  weakness.  With 
Spain  especially  the  strain  of  a  long  war,  for  which 
she  was  ill  prepared,  resulted  in  a  slow  process  of 
disintegration.  Under  Philip  II.,  Portugal  had 
been  annexed  to  the  Crown  of  Castille.  But  no 
efforts  had  been  made  to  reconcile  the  people  of 
that  kingdom  to  their  new  lot;  they  were  plundered 
by  the  exactions  of  Spanish  viceroys;  their  com- 
merce diminished ;  their  merchant  ships  were  ex- 
posed to  the  ravages  of  pirates;  official  positions 
were  sold  to  foreigners,  and  the  country  suffered 
under  every  form  of  Spanish  misrule. 

When  the  forces  of  Spain  were  engaged  in  war 
against  France  and  Holland,  the  Portuguese  saw 
the  opportunity  to  regain  their  national  existence. 
In  1640,  an  insurrection  broke  out,  and  the  Duke  of 
Braganza,  the  heir  of  former  rulers,  was  proclaimed 
King  of  Portugal.  The  liberation  of  the  Portuguese 
was  accomplished  almost  without  resistance;  the 
Spanish  were  hated  by  all,  and  they  were  destitute 
of  any  means  with  which  to  resist  a  popular  move- 
ment. In  a  few  weeks,  the  whole  of  Portugal  was 
freed  from  Spanish  garrisons,  the  ancient  monarchy 
was  re-established  and  was  not  again  to  become 
subject  to  foreign  rule. 

A  revolt  of  hardly  less  importance  threatened  the 

12 


1 78  Richelieu  [1618- 

power  of  Spain  in  another  part  of  her  wide  posses- 
sions. Catalonia,  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  the 
Pyrenees  and  adjoining  Languedoc,  was  inhabited 
by  a  hardy  and  vigorous  population.  Long  ruled 
by  the  counts  of  Barcelona,  it  had  been  annexed  to 
Aragon  as  a  result  of  marriage  alliances.  The  pro- 
vince still  enjoyed  many  privileges,  which,  if  they 
had  been  respected,  would  have  preserved  its  char- 
acter as  a  free,  and  almost  an  independent  State. 
But  the  Spanish  were  loath  to  respect  the  privi- 
leges of  any  possessions  which  came  under  their  rule ; 
during  the  reign  of  Philip  IV.,  soldiers  were  quar- 
tered in  Catalonia,  the  people  were  treated  with 
brutality,  their  rights  disregarded,  and  their  prop- 
erty plundered.  Olivarez  wrote  the  viceroy  with 
the  misdirected  energy  of  despotism : 

"  If  you  do  not  oblige  the  people  to  bring  on  their 
backs  all  the  wheat,  barley,  and  straw  that  is  found,  you 
will  fail  in  what  you  owe  to  God,  your  King,  and  the 
blood  in  your  veins.  If  the  privileges  of  the  province  do 
not  interfere  with  what  you  have  to  do,  it  were  well  to 
conform  to  them,  but,  if  they  cause  delay,  were  it  but  for 
an  hour,  he  is  an  enemy  to  his  country  who  will  yield  to 
them." 

It  is  by  such  measures  that  Spain  has  succeeded  in 
dissipating  a  great  foreign  empire. 

In  1640,  Catalonia  and  Roussillon  declared  them- 
selves independent  of  the  Spanish  Crown,  and,  in 
the  following  year,  they  were  united  to  France  by  a 
treaty  which  guaranteed  their  privileges  and  rights. 
The  people  were  weary  of  misrule  and  welcomed 


1648]  The  Thirty  Years    War  1 79 

the  change,  but  the  Spanish  sought  to  hold  by  arms 
what  they  had  lost  by  bad  government,  while  the 
French  made  vigorous  efforts  to  secure  these  new 
and  valuable  possessions.  In  1641,  they  laid  siege 
to  Tarragona,  and  the  Spanish  fleet  endeavoured  to 
relieve  the  town.  The  French  ships  were  under  the 
command  of  the  Archbishop  of  Bordeaux;  an  en- 
gagement followed  in  which  the  French  had  the 
worst  of  it,  and  the  siege  was  raised. 

Richelieu  had  a  curious  weakness  for  ecclesiastical 
warriors,  but  his  heart  was  set  on  the  capture  of 
Tarragona,  and  his  wrath  overflowed  on  the  unlucky 
bishop.  He  was  removed  from  his  command,  and 
the  Cardinal  was  not  content  with  this.  He  wished 
the  admiral  to  be  further  punished,  but  he  found 
himself  involved  in  curious  complications.  Other 
unsuccessful  officers  he  committed  to  the  tender 
mercy  of  a  court-martial  selected  by  himself,  but  an 
archbishop  could  not  be  tried  and  sentenced  by  lay- 
admirals  and  captains.  Richelieu  turned  to  the  Pope 
for  relief,  and  asked  for  the  appointment  of  a  court 
of  bishops  to  try  the  offender.  In  the  extremity  of 
his  wrath,  the  Cardinal  lost  his  usual  good  judgment, 
and  the  Pope  did  not  see  fit  to  designate  half  a 
dozen  bishops,  who  should  consider  the  errors  of 
their  right  reverend  brother  in  the  management  of 
a  fleet.  Richelieu  was  forced  to  content  himself 
with  keeping  the  archbishop  in  disgrace,  forbidden 
either  to  walk  the  quarter-deck,  or  to  officiate  in  his 
cathedral.  The  flock  may  have  suffered,  but  the 
sailors  fared  better  when  commanded  by  a  sailor 
than  by  a  priest. 


180  Richelieu  tieis- 

This  defeat  was  only  temporary  and  was  followed 
by  victories  which  secured  to  France  the  possession 
of  the  revolting  provinces.  In  1642,  the  important 
city  of  Perpignan  was  besieged.  The  Spanish 
sought  to  bring  relief,  and  in  June  the  remains  of 
a  navy,  which  under  Charles  V.  had  been  the  most 
powerful  in  Europe,  met  the  fleet  that  Richelieu 
within  a  few  years  had  created  for  France.  The 
Spanish  had  fifty  men-of-war  and  ten  galleys. 
The  French  had  forty  ships  and  twenty  galleys. 
The  Spanish  were  completely  defeated  and  sought 
shelter  at  Port  Mahon,  and  this  disaster  entailed 
the  loss  of  Roussillon.  Perpignan  surrendered,  the 
entire  province  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  French, 
and  French  it  has  ever  since  remained.  Catalonia 
was  also  overrun  by  the  French  armies,  and  when 
Richelieu  died  there  was  every  reason  to  believe 
that  the  wish  of  the  people  would  be  gratified  and 
the  province  become  part  of  the  French  kingdom. 

In  the  Low  Countries,  also,  the  Spanish  lost 
ground.  In  1640,  the  important  city  of  Arras  was 
taken.  Its  strength  was  great ;  it  was  a  virgin  town, 
never  polluted  by  the  presence  of  victorious  enemies, 
and  the  citizens  felt  the  confidence  which  comes 
from  long  immunity.  "  When  the  French  take 
Arras,  the  rats  will  eat  the  cats,"  so  ran  the  popular 
apothegm.  But  after  a  long  siege  the  city  was 
forced  to  surrender;  it  became  and  has  remained  a 
French  possession. 

Richelieu  espoused  the  cause  of  Holland,  whose 
long  war  with  Spain  recommenced  at  the  expiration 
of  the  twelve  years'  truce.  In  this  he  followed  the 


1648]  The  Thirty  Years    War  181 

traditions  of  Henry  IV.  and  pursued  a  policy  which 
was  not  departed  from  until  Louis  XIV.  alienated 
those  allies  by  his  over-weening  pride,  to  his  great 
and  permanent  loss.  By  this  alliance  the  Cardinal 
hoped  to  secure  greater  results  than  the  formal 
acknowledgment  of  Dutch  independence,  which  was 
already  practically  assured.  The  provinces  which 
now  constitute  Belgium  were  to  be  freed  from  the 
Spanish  yoke;  and  that  the  liberators  might  not  be 
without  reward,  France  and  Holland  were  to  receive 
territorial  compensation,  while  if  the  people  re- 
mained constant  to  Spain  the  entire  territory  was  to 
be  conquered  and  divided.  This  was  the  contingency 
which  would  have  been  most  agreeable  to  Richelieu. 
Holland  was  to  take  Brabant,  Guelders,  and  other 
provinces,  while  for  France  the  Cardinal  selected 
Hainault,  Artois,  Namur,  Luxembourg,  part  of 
Flanders,  and  the  cities  of  Gravelines,  Dunkirk,  and 
Ostend. 

This  project  of  partition  was  not  alluring  to  the 
Dutch  burghers;  they  were  not  eager  to  extend 
their  boundaries  by  the  reception  of  Catholic  pro- 
vinces into  their  commonwealth,  and  they  had  no 
desire  to  see  their  powerful  ally  too  near  a  neigh- 
bour. They  felt  safer  with  the  most  of  Belgium 
held  by  a  decaying  state  like  Spain,  rather  than  by 
a  vigorous  and  encroaching  people  like  the  French. 

Richelieu  was  greatly  interested  in  this  scheme. 
His  letters  contain  frequent  memoranda  on  the 
subject  and  suggest  methods  by  which  it  could  be 
brought  to  a  successful  accomplishment.  It  had  to 
encounter,  however,  not  only  the  passive  opposition 


182  Richelieu 


(1618- 


of  the  Dutch,  but  the  active  opposition  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  Spanish  Low  Countries,  whose  lot 
it  was  sought  to  change.  The  Spanish  had  learned 
moderation  from  the  loss  of  the  United  Provinces, 
and  their  rule  in  the  Low  Countries  was  now  an 
easy  one.  There  was  no  general  well-being  among 
the  French  people  to  tempt  those  who  already  en- 
joyed a  moderate  prosperity  to  share  their  lot.  A 
few  ambitious  politicians  hoped  to  find  their  advan- 
tage in  French  rule,  but  by  the  masses  of  the  people 
the  prospect  of  it  was  viewed  with  apprehension. 

Although  the  Cardinal  was  unable  to  carry  these 
plans  into  execution,  yet,  to  a  certain  extent,  they 
were  realised  under  Louis  XIV.  Artois,  Dunkirk, 
Gravelines,  and  parts  of  Hainault  and  Flanders  were, 
at  one  time  and  another,  annexed  to  France  and 
have  remained  French. 

It  soon  became  evident  that  the  Spanish  were 
ready  to  concede  the  independence  of  the  Seven 
Provinces  and  to  yield  most  of  the  commercial  ad- 
vantages which  they  demanded.  The  independence 
of  the  United  Provinces  had  been  practically  assured 
for  forty  years,  and  the  time  had  at  last  come  when 
the  Spanish  saw  they  must  recognise  the  fact  or  risk 
the  possessions  which  still  remained  faithful  to  their 
allegiance.  The  Dutch  became  lax  in  their  alliance 
with  the  French,  and  a  powerful  party,  jealous  of 
French  interference,  insisted  that  the  provinces 
should  accept  reasonable  terms,  and  not  continue  a 
war  to  obtain  territories  for  themselves  of  which 
they  had  no  need,  and  territories  for  France  which 
would  be  a  peril  to  their  own  safety. 


1648]  The  Thirty  Years    War  183 

The  Dutch  continued  in  the  French  alliance  until 
after  Richelieu's  death,  but  not  very  much  was  done 
in  the  way  of  fighting.  At  the  congress  at  Miinster 
and  Osnabruck,  it  was  soon  ascertained  that  the 
Dutch  were  ready  to  make  peace  without  waiting 
for  France,  and  in  1648  the  war  between  Spain 
and  the  Seven  Provinces  was  ended  by  the  formal 
acknowledgment  of  Dutch  independence.  Not  until 
twelve  years  later  were  France  and  Spain  able  to 
agree  on  terms. 

While  Sweden  was  carrying  on  the  war  in  Ger- 
many, and  France  was  engaged  in  the  Low  Countries 
and  the  Spanish  possessions,  negotiations  for  peace 
began.  The  council  by  which  the  Thirty  Years' 
War  was  brought  to  an  end  proceeded  with  as 
much  deliberation  as  the  contest  itself.  As  early  as 
1636,  it  was  decided  to  call  a  council  at  Cologne  by 
which  the  great  war  might  be  closed.  It  was  con- 
vened under  the  sanction  of  the  Pope,  and  in  1639, 
Mazarin,  who  had  just  become  a  French  citizen,  was 
chosen  as  the  representative  of  France.  But  years 
elapsed  before  the  first  meeting  of  the  body;  not 
until  1644  did  the  representatives  of  the  various 
nations  assemble  at  Miinster,  which  had  finally  been 
selected  as  the  place  of  meeting. 

Richelieu  entertained  little  hope  that  these  en- 
deavours for  peace  would  meet  with  immediate 
success.  Austria  and  Spain  were  not  sufficiently 
exhausted  to  accede  to  the  terms  demanded  by  the 
allies,  and  it  required  the  victories  of  Cond£  and 
Turenne  to  obtain  for  France  the  advantages  which 
she  sought.  By  the  Treaty  of  WTestphalia  in  1648 


184  Richelieu  [1618-1648] 

almost  the  whole  of  Alsace  was  ceded  to  France; 
the  acquisitions  she  made  at  the  expense  of  Spain 
were  not  secured  until  the  Spanish  abandoned  a 
hopeless  struggle  eleven  years  later.  The  genius  of 
the  great  French  generals  and  the  sagacity  of  Maza- 
rin  contributed  to  these  results,  but  they  followed 
the  policy  which  Richelieu  had  outlined,  and  the 
terms  of  the  treaties  were  such  as  he  would  have 
desired. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE   CLOSE   OF   RICHELIEU'S   CAREER 
1638-1642 

ONLY  Richelieu's  indomitable  energy  enabled 
him  to  bear  the  anxiety  of  a  great  and  pro- 
tracted war  in  addition  to  his  other  labours, 
and  amid  the  perils  by  which  he  was  environed. 
He  was  not  only  prime  minister,  but  minister  of 
war,  of  the  navy,  and  of  foreign  affairs.     And  all 
these  duties  he  undertook  when  a  great  war  was 
waging,  when  taxation  was  burdensome  and  discon- 
tent was  rife. 

He  gave  attention  to  every  detail  of  military 
operations.  We  find  his  directions  concerning  the 
furnishing  of  supplies,  the  character  of  the  food,  and 
matters  that  would  now  be  the  affair  of  the  quar- 
termaster or  the  commissary-general.  There  are 
also  plans  of  battles  drawn  by  him,  with  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  troops,  the  order  in  which  they  should 
march,  the  distances  at  which  they  should  be  placed. 
Between  the  advance-guard  and  the  line  of  battle," 
he  writes,  "there  should  be  three  hundred  feet; 

185 


1 86  Richelieu  [1638- 

between  the  line  and  the  rear-guard,  six  hundred 
feet,"  and  so  on,  marking  out  the  place  of  each  regi- 
ment with  more  precision  than  is  often  shown  by  a 
general  in  command.  He  traced  the  plans  for  fort- 
resses and  for  camps,  and  calculated  the  way  in  which 
an  army  could  best  be  transported  across  a  stream ; 
thus  he  employed  a  mind  that  could  never  rest,  and 
indulged  his  fondness  for  the  profession  which  as  a 
youth  he  had  hoped  to  follow. 

Such  instructions  did  not  always  reach  the  front. 
Perhaps  they  were  not  intended  for  actual  use,  but 
the  minister  who  with  reluctance  intrusted  any  de- 
tail of  government  to  another,  was  certain  to  regu- 
late the  plans  of  a  campaign  from  the  home  office. 
This  Richelieu  did,  and  the  army  fared  none  the 
better  for  it.  He  was  often  unfortunate  in  his  gen- 
erals, because  he  wished  to  give  the  command  to 
those  whom  he  regarded  with  personal  favour,  and 
believed  that  any  defects  in  their  experience  or  cap- 
acity could  be  supplied  from  Paris. 

The  war  was  long  and  its  fortunes  varied.  After 
Gustavus's  death,  success  for  a  while  inclined  to  the 
side  of  Austria,  but  in  the  closing  years  of  Riche- 
lieu's administration  the  great  armies  he  had  col- 
lected and  the  millions  he  annually  expended  began 
to  produce  the  effects  for  which  he  hoped. 

During  this  period  France  enjoyed  for  the  most 
part  internal  tranquillity.  If  the  country  had  been 
distracted  by  frequent  insurrection,  as  it  was  in  the 
early  years  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIII.,  it  would 
have  been  impossible  to  carry  on  war  against  Austria 
and  Spain  with  the  vigour  necessary  for  success. 


1642]       The  Close  of  Richelieu  s  Career        187 

After  La  Rochelle  had  been  captured  and  the  lead- 
ers of  some  abortive  insurrections  punished  with 
merciless  severity,  the  Cardinal  believed  he  could 
safely  undertake  a  great  foreign  war.  His  policy 
from  the  beginning  was  to  insure  order  at  home, 
that  France  might  exert  a  great  influence  abroad, 
yet  all  his  efforts  did  not  secure  complete  tranquillity. 

The  revolts  organised  by  unsuccessful  intriguers, 
or  dissatisfied  nobles,  were  of  no  great  importance, 
but  discontent  was  widespread  among  the  mass  of 
the  people,  and  might  have  proved  dangerous  under 
a  less  vigorous  ruler.  Like  many  other  great  states- 
men, Richelieu  was  a  poor  financier.  The  financial 
system  of  the  country  was  bad,  and  he  did  little  to 
improve  it.  A  long  war  was  not  an  opportune 
season  for  financial  reforms,  and  the  evils  of  vicious 
taxation  were  aggravated  by  the  increasing  needs  of 
the  Government. 

Richelieu  was  not  a  corrupt  minister,  but  he  was 
prodigal.  Henry  IV.,  with  all  his  dashing  qualities, 
had  in  his  character  a  good  deal  of  the  prudent  bour- 
geois; he  loved  to  save  his  sous.  Under  him  taxa- 
tion was  light,  and  there  was  a  surplus  in  the  treasury. 
Richelieu  found  himself  involved  in  wars  where  strict 
economy  was  impossible,  and  he  had  neither  the  art 
nor  even  the  desire  to  conduct  the  Government  as 
cheaply  as  possible.  If  there  was  a  thing  to  do,  he 
wished  it  done  at  once  regardless  of  the  cost.  Lav- 
ishness  was  agreeable  to  him  in  private  life,  and  this 
was  not  without  its  influence  on  his  public  conduct. 
He  writes:  "  We  must  not  complain  about  money; 
money  is  nothing  if  we  accomplish  our  end.  .  .  . 


1 88  Richelieu 


[1638- 


Only  God  can  make  something  out  of  nothing. 
Even  extortions  which  are  intolerable  in  their  nature 
become  excusable  from  the  necessities  of  war." 

Such  were  the  views  of  a  prime  minister  who  knew 
little  about  financial  questions,  and  who,  with  a  bad 
system  of  taxation  and  a  corrupt  and  insufficient 
administration,  was  carrying  on  war  with  half  of 
Europe  and  supporting  six  armies  in  the  field.  It 
is  not  strange  that  the  budget  grew  larger  and  that 
the  condition  of  the  taxpayer  grew  worse.  In  1610, 
under  Henry  IV.,  the  taille  yielded  twelve  millions; 
during  the  regency  of  Mary  de'  Medici  it  reached 
seventeen  millions;  before  the  close  of  Richelieu's 
administration  the  amount  collected  was  almost 
forty-four  millions. 

The  burden  of  taxation  excited  many  petty  re- 
volts. They  were  usually  small  affairs,  a  few  officials 
were  hanged  by  the  mob,  and  many  malcontents 
were  hanged  by  the  authorities.  However  unwise 
and  ineffectual,  these  risings  proved  that  poverty 
and  suffering  among  the  people  were  only  too  com- 
mon under  Richelieu.  We  read  of  insurrections  of 
peasants  in  Limousin  and  Poitou,  in  Gascony  and 
Guyenne,  always  excited  by  over-taxation,  always 
begun  in  the  vain  attempt  to  resist  the  imposition  of 
new  taxes  or  to  shake  off  the  burden  of  old  taxes. 

I  fear,"  said  an  orator  of  the  States- General  in 
1614,  "  that  these  excessive  burdens  and  the  oppres- 
sion from  which  the  people  suffer  will  drive  them 
to  despair."  Under  Richelieu  the  burdens  were 
heavier  than  before,  and  it  was  despair  which  drove 
an  ignorant  peasantry  into  hopeless  rebellion. 


1642]       The  Close  of  Richelieu's  Career        189 

Only  once  did  such  a  rising  assume  proportions  of 
importance.  Richelieu's  endeavours  to  destroy  the 
remnants  of  local  government  in  France  had  in- 
creased his  unpopularity ;  the  remnants  were  not  very 
important,  but  the  people  were  loath  to  surrender 
them.  In  Normandy,  the  local  States  once  pos- 
sessed considerable  power;  under  Richelieu  their 
meetings  became  infrequent  and  their  authority  was 
diminished.  The  people  were  strongly  attached  to 
this  institution,  and  the  efforts  to  destroy  it  increased 
the  discontent  caused  by  onerous  taxation.  After 
three  years  of  enforced  vacation,  the  States  met  in 
1638  and  submitted  to  the  King  a  sinister  picture  of 
the  condition  of  the  country.  Commerce  was  ruined, 
they  said,  by  unwise  taxation,  the  land  ravaged  by 
disorderly  soldiers,  the  prisons  filled  by  those  who 
could  not  pay  their  taxes,  villages  deserted  and 
farms  laid  waste.  The  picture  was  exaggerated, 
but  the  condition  of  the  people  was  bad  enough.  A 
hopeless  revolt  against  a  powerful  government  was 
not  likely  to  improve  their  lot,  but  a  discontented 
people  is  not  often  reasonable  and,  in  1639,  Nor- 
mandy was  in  open  insurrection.  It  presented 
the  usual  features  of  the  popular  risings,  of  which 
there  were  many  in  French  history,  for  the  most 
part  due,  as  was  this,  to  the  misery  caused  by  ex- 
cessive taxation.  Furious  mobs  destroyed  property, 
burned  houses  and  barns,  and  hanged  unpopular 
officials.  They  were  organised  into  a  semi-military 
body,  of  which  the  leader  came  to  be  known  as 
"  Barefooted  John."  He  was  the  vicar  of  the  church 
at  Avranches.  The  inferior  clergy  were  not  only  in 


190  Richelieu  [1638- 

close  sympathy  with  the  people,  but  the  pay  was  so 
meagre  that  their  lot  was  often  little  better  than 
that  of  the  poorest  of  their  flock.  Under  the  leader- 
ship of  Barefooted  John  a  force  gathered,  which 
soon  counted  twenty  thousand  men,  and  took  the 
appropriate  title  of  the  Army  of  Suffering.  As  is 
usually  the  case,  they  looked  back  to  a  period  when 
they  believed  the  people's  lot  was  happier,  and  they 
demanded  the  repeal  of  all  taxes  that  had  been  im- 
posed since  the  death  of  Henry  IV.  The  French 
people  long  turned  to  the  reign  of  the  hero  of  Ivry 
as  an  era  of  happiness  and  well-being,  and  in  this 
they  were  not  wholly  wrong. 

The  Army  of  Suffering  proceeded  after  the  fashion 
of  similar  risings.  The  buildings  occupied  by  the 
tax  officers  or  for  the  storage  of  grain  were  special 
objects  of  execration,  and  many  of  them  were  sacked 
and  burned.  The  conduct  of  the  insurgents,  as  was 
truly  said,  was  both  ferocious  and  absurd,  but  what 
else  could  have  been  expected  ?  They  received  en- 
couragement from  those  higher  in  the  social  scale; 
the  Parliament  showed  little  zeal  in  repressing  dis- 
order, while  the  citizens  of  Rouen  and  other  towns 
indulged  in  similar  excesses.  The  authorities 
ordered  the  bourgeois  to  assist  in  quelling  disturb- 
ances. "  We  have  no  arms  "  was  the  general  reply; 
"  we  have  sold  our  weapons  in  order  to  raise  money 
with  which  to  pay  our  taxes." 

This  condition  of  lawlessness  continued  for  several 
weeks.  The  Cardinal  was  greatly  incensed,  and 
vented  his  wrath  on  the  officials,  who  had  imposed 
some  unpopular  taxes  in  the  endeavour  to  raise 


1642]       The  Close  of  RicJielicus  Career        191 

money  with  which  to  meet  the  ever-increasing  de- 
mands of  the  treasury.  '  You  had  better  think 
what  you  are  doing,"  he  wrote,  "  and  consider  the 
consequences  of  the  resolutions  you  adopt  in  your 
council  of  finance." 

If  Richelieu  abused  his  associates,  he  was  not  the 
man  to  allow  rebellion  to  go  unchecked.  All  were 
made  to  feel  the  weight  of  the  Cardinal's  hand.  A 
regular  army  was  sent  to  the  province,  and  the  in- 
surgents were  soon  dispersed,  leaders  were  executed 
on  the  gallows  or  broken  on  the  wheel,  and  their 
followers  sent  to  the  galleys ;  the  sessions  of  the  Par- 
liament were  suspended  for  a  year,  the  towns  were 
deprived  of  their  franchises,  an  enormous  fine  was 
imposed  on  Rouen,  and  order  again  reigned  in 
Normandy. 

This  ineffectual  rebellion  was  soon  followed  by 
another,  which  proved  no  more  successful.  The 
Cardinal  was  loved  neither  by  peer  nor  peasant,  and 
the  failure  of  past  efforts  to  overthrow  his  rule  did 
not  prevent  new  attempts.  In  1641,  the  Count  of 
Soissons,  a  prince  of  the  blood,  both  able  and 
powerful,  started  a  fresh  rebellion,  with  the  Duke 
of  Bouillon  and  other  great  noblemen  among  his 
followers.  Their  pronunciamento  contained  the 
oft-repeated  complaints  against  the  Cardinal.  Riche- 
lieu, so  said  the  insurgents  in  their  appeal  for  sup- 
port, had  imperilled  the  reputation  of  the  King, 
squandered  the  money  of  the  State,  and  spilled  the 
blood  of  the  people  in  wars,  the  only  object  of 
which  was  to  insure  his  own  grasp  on  power;  he  had 
banished,  imprisoned,  and  executed,  he  had  risked 


192  Richelieu  [1638- 

a  schism  that  he  might  become  the  head  of  the 
Church ;  the  laws  were  violated,  the  privileges  of 
the  nobility  disregarded,  the  clergy  illegally  taxed, 
to  support  corsairs  on  the  sea  who  robbed  innocent 
men  under  the  command  of  an  archbishop,  and 
soldiers  on  land  who  pillaged  churches  under  the 
command  of  a  cardinal.  It  was  to  free  the  land 
from  such  ills  that  the  people  of  France  were  bidden 
to  rise. 

There  were  many  who  believed  these  charges 
against  Richelieu  to  be  not  wholly  unjust,  but  if  they 
did  not  love  the  Cardinal,  they  feared  that  those  who 
sought  to  replace  him  would  squander  French  blood 
and  treasure  with  even  worse  results.  Though  the 
insurgents  met  with  little  popular  support,  yet  no 
other  insurrection  seems  to  have  excited  so  much 
apprehension  in  Richelieu  ;  he  was  growing  old,  and 
his  health  was  broken  after  years  of  enormous  re- 
sponsibility and  toil.  Success  did  not  fail  him  at 
the  last;  the  royal  army  was  defeated,  chiefly  be- 
cause the  Cardinal  saw  fit  to  confide  it  to  an  incom- 
petent leader,  but  the  Count  of  Soissons  was  killed 
in  the  hour  of  his  victory.  '  We  must  take  the 
bitter  with  the  sweet,"  said  the  Cardinal,  when  he 
was  told  of  the  defeat  of  his  army  and  the  death  of 
his  enemy.  There  was  more  sweet  than  bitter,  for 
the  death  of  Soissons  put  an  end  to  the  insurrection. 

The  dangers  to  which  Richelieu  was  exposed  were 
not  yet  ended ;  they  ceased  only  when  the  Cardinal 
was  no  more.  He  did  not  spare  his  enemies,  and  it 
is  not  strange  that  they  were  willing  to  sacrifice  him, 
but  all  the  schemes  for  assassination  came  to  nothing. 


1642]        The  Close  of  Richelieu  s  Career        193 

It  was  often  decided  that  the  Cardinal  must  be 
killed,  but  no  one  ever  raised  his  hand  to  make  the 
attempt. 

Twice,  indeed,  he  was  in  serious  danger,  and  on 
both  occasions  it  was  the  King's  brother,  Gaston  of 
Orleans,  who  was  to  give  the  signal,  at  which  his 
followers  were  to  bury  their  daggers  in  Richelieu's 
heart.  On  both  occasions  Gaston's  courage  failed 
him  in  the  hour  of  action.  If  any  compunction  had 
seized  him,  any  unwillingness  to  shed  the  blood  of 
a  defenceless  man,  this  might  be  reckoned  to  his 
credit;  but  as  no  motive  controlled  his  action  save 
physical  timidity,  there  is  no  need  to  applaud  pusil- 
lanimity. 

A  special  interest  attaches  to  the  last  conspiracy 
formed  against  Richelieu ;  it  was  at  the  close  of  his 
long  administration,  and  he  gained  his  victory  over 
his  enemies  when  the  hand  of  death  was  upon  him. 
The  conspiracy  of  Cinq-Mars  has  been  celebrated  in 
prose  and  verse;  it  is  familiar  to  many  who  know 
little  of  Richelieu's  career.  The  man  who  sought 
to  overthrow  and  at  last  to  murder  the  Cardinal 
owed  his  first  advancement  to  Richelieu's  favour. 
He  was,  indeed,  used  by  the  minister  as  a  means  of 
getting  rid  of  an  objectionable  favourite.  When 
Louis's  affections  were  diverted  to  Mile,  de  La 
Fayette,  Mile,  de  Hautefort  remained  in  the  service 
of  the  Queen.  Mile,  de  La  Fayette  presently  re- 
tired to  the  pious  isolation  of  the  Convent  of  the 
Visitation,  and  Louis  continued  to  meet  his  former 
charmer;  she  had  passed  from  girlhood  to  woman- 
hood and  had  grown  more  beautiful  with  years,  and 
13 


194  Richelieu  [1638- 

the  King  soon  contracted  a  new  passion  for  her,  as 
chaste  and  as  fretful  as  his  early  affection. 

If  Mile,  de  Hautefort  had  advanced  in  years,  she 
had  lost  nothing  of  her  youthful  independence,  and 
Richelieu  was  unable  by  any  bribes  to  make  her  his 
friend.  Of  her  real  sentiments  he  was  kept  well 
posted.  In  every  branch  of  the  Government  he 
had  his  spies;  doubtless  they  were  required  for  the 
success  of  his  plans,  and  perhaps  for  the  safety  of 
his  person,  but  it  is  not  agreeable  to  think  of  the 
great  statesman  listening  in  the  secrecy  of  his  cham- 
ber to  the  treacherous  disclosures  of  ladies  and 
gentlemen  who  sold  themselves  to  him.  It  is  sad 
to  find  that  in  the  household  of  the  Queen  he  had 
suborned  a  young  lady  of  good  family,  young,  beau- 
tiful, witty,  and  spirituelle,  who  disclosed  to  him  the 
inmost  feelings  and  the  secret  councils  of  the  Queen, 
her  mistress,  and  of  the  ladies  of  the  Court,  her 
friends.  The  Cardinal  had  no  compunction  in  using 
such  confidences;  they  assured  him  of  Mile,  de 
Hautefort's  hostility,  and  he  resolved  to  destroy 
her  influence  over  Louis  by  the  only  sure  means, — 
banishment  from  his  sight.  The  task  was  not  an 
easy  one,  but  the  Cardinal  demanded  the  removal 
of  the  offending  favourite,  and  at  last  he  obtained 
an  order  from  Louis  that  she  should  leave  the  Court 
for  fifteen  days.  Mile,  de  Hautefort  was  outraged 
by  this  affront  and  retired  to  the  country,  nor  did 
she  return  to  the  scene  of  these  ignoble  cabals  until 
Cardinal  and  King  were  no  more. 

It  was  necessary  to  supply  the  place  she  left 
vacant,  for  Louis  required  some  one  as  a  confidant 


1642]        The  Close  of  Richelieu  s  Career        195 

and  companion.  Weary  of  the  wiles  of  women, 
Richelieu  selected  for  the  position  a  young  man 
named  Cinq-Mars,  the  son  of  Marshal  d'Effiat. 
The  Cardinal  might  reasonably  expect  the  good-will 
of  the  new  favourite ;  he  had  befriended  his  father 
and  procured  for  the  son  the  opportunity  of  ad- 
vancement. Cinq-Mars  was,  moreover,  a  youth  of 
much  vanity  and  little  ability,  and  could  not  be  re- 
garded as  a  possible  rival  to  the  all-powerful  Cardi- 
nal, the  foremost  man  of  Europe,  who  had  grown 
grey  in  the  service  of  the  State. 

But  the  character  of  Louis  XIII.  exposed  the 
minister  to  strange  perils.  The  King's  feelings 
toward  a  favourite  of  either  sex  seem  to  have  been 
much  the  same ;  he  paid  to  either  the  same  jealous 
and  wearisome  devotion,  and  he  insisted  on  an  in- 
timacy which  gave  the  confidant  every  opportunity 
to  instil  his  own  views  into  the  royal  mind.  Cinq- 
Mars  was  handsome,  and  of  pleasing  manners,  and 
his  favour  grew  apace. 

"  We  have  a  new  favourite  at  Court,"  Chavigni  writes 
Mazarin  in  1639,  "  M.  de  Cinq-Mars,  dependent  en- 
tirely on  the  Cardinal.  .  .  .  Never  has  the  King 
had  a  passion  for  anyone  more  violent  than  for  him. 
He  is  the  Grand  Equerry  of  France,  which  is  not  a  bad 
d£but  for  a  youth  of  nineteen." 

He  found  serious  trials  in  his  master's  tempera- 
ment. The  quarrels,  the  poutings,  the  little  alien- 
ations and  speedy  reconciliations  with  a  king  almost 
forty  years  old  seem  indeed  strange.  Cinq-Mars's 
conduct  was  not  unnatural;  he  was  a  conceited  boy, 


196  Richelieu  [1638- 

puffed  up  by  great  prosperity,  who  dreamed  of 
supplanting  Richelieu,  but  at  the  same  time  was 
eager  for  his  own  pleasures,  and  bored  by  the  dul- 
ness  of  constantly  attending  on  a  stupid,  middle- 
aged,  and  melancholy  king.  He  might  have  learned 
the  courtier's  arts  from  the  Cardinal  he  sought  to 
displace.  Though  Richelieu's  chief  hold  was  in 
Louis's  conviction  of  his  capacity,  yet  the  minister 
flattered  his  capricious  master  with  unceasing  care. 
However  certain  that  his  views  would  be  adopted, 
they  were  submitted  to  the  King  with  entire  defer- 
ence. But  his  young  rival  seemed  to  think  that  as 
his  favour  rested  on  nothing,  it  could  never  grow  less. 
After  a  weary  day  spent  with  the  King,  Cinq-Mars 
would  gallop  over  to  Paris  for  the  delights  of  the 
Marais  and  the  society  of  Marion  de  Lorme.  Such 
adventures  often  made  him  irritable  during  the  fol- 
lowing day ;  his  moral  and  thrifty  master  condemned 
his  vices  as  reprehensible  and  his  amusements  as 
extravagant.  The  bickerings  of  the  King  and  the 
favourite  were  submitted  to  the  minister  with  as 
much  solicitude  as  the  latest  bulletins  from  Roussil- 
lon  or  Arras,  and  were  studied  by  him  with  fully  as 
much  care.  "  I  was  a  little  ill  last  night,"  writes 
the  King  to  the  Cardinal,  "  so  this  morning  I  took 
a  remedy,  and  to-night  perhaps  I  shall  take  some 
medicine.  The  certificate  enclosed  will  show  the 
condition  of  the  reconciliation  you  made  yesterday." 
The  certificate  is  in  these  words: 

"  We,  the  undersigned,  certify  to  whom  it  may  con- 
cern, that  we  are  well  contented  and  satisfied  with  each 
other  and  have  never  been  in  such  perfect  intelligence  as 


CINQ-MARS. 

FROM    A    PAINTING    BY    LENAIN. 


1642]        The  Close  of  Richelieu  s  Career        197 

now.     In  witness  whereof  we  have  signed  this  certificate. 
Dated  at  St.  Germain,  November  26,  1639. 
"(Signed) 

"  Louis.     CINQ-MARS. 

This  is  not  the  only  one  of  such  documents  that 
form  part  of  the  State  papers.  Louis's  actual  quar- 
rels with  his  favourite  were  reduced  to  writing,  as 
well  as  his  imaginary  reasonings  with  his  lady-loves. 
We  find  this  certificate,  duly  signed  by  both  parties: 

"  To-day,  the  gth  of  May,  1640,  the  King  being  at 
Soissons,  his  Majesty  has  seen  fit  to  promise  Monsieur  le 
Grand,  that  during  all  this  campaign  he  will  not  be  angry 
with  him.  If  M.  le  Grand  should  give  him  some  slight 
cause,  the  complaint  shall  be  made  by  his  Majesty  to  the 
Cardinal  without  bitterness,  that  by  his  advice  M.  le 
Grand  may  correct  himself  of  all  that  may  displease  the 
King." 

But  the  bickerings  were  never  ending.  In  Janu- 
ary, 1641,  the  King  writes  Richelieu: 

"  I  am  vexed  to  weary  you  with  the  bad  humours  of 
M.  le  Grand.  I  said  to  him  on  his  return  from  Rueil, 
1  the  Cardinal  writes  me  you  desire  to  please  me  in  all 
things,  but  you  do  not  in  one  respect  and  that  is  your 
indolence.'  He  answered  me  that  he  could  not  change, 
and  could  do  no  better  than  he  had.  I  was  offended  by 
this.  ...  I  resumed  the  conversation  on  idleness, 
saying  that  it  rendered  a  man  incapable  of  all  good 
things,  that  he  was  only  fit  for  the  Marais,  and  if  he 
wished  to  continue  that  mode  of  life  he  could  return 
there.  He  told  me  arrogantly  he  was  quite  ready  to  give 
up  his  wealth  and  as  willing  to  be  plain  Cinq-Mars  as  M. 


198  jR  ic  he  lieu  [1638- 

le  Grand,  and  as  for  changing  his  fashion  of  life,  he 
could  not  do  it.  I  finally  told  him  that  I  would  be 
pleased  not  to  see  him  in  this  humour.  He  answered 
that  he  would  willingly  attend  to  that.  All  this  took 
place  in  the  presence  of  Gordes.  I  have  shown  Gordes 
this  memoir  before  sending  it  to  you,  and  he  tells  me 
there  is  nothing  in  it  which  is  not  correct." 

Such  fits  of  petulance  on  the  part  of  the  favourite 
did  not  permanently  loosen  his  hold  on  his  master. 
Louis  complained,  reproved,  sulked,  wrote  budgets 
of  his  grievances  for  the  consideration  of  the  officers 
of  State,  but  he  remained  dependent  on  the  com- 
panionship of  his  youthful  comrade.  Though  Cinq- 
Mars  would  not  sacrifice  the  caprice  or  the  anger  of 
the  moment,  he  still  cherished  his  foolish  dreams  of 
ambition.  He  wished  to  have  his  nights  of  pleasure 
in  Paris,  splendour  and  profusion  around  him,  the 
jests  of  his  friends  and  the  smiles  of  his  lady-loves, 
and  he  did  not  wish  to  be  bored  by  Louis's  society 
more  than  was  necessary ;  but  he  desired  also  to 
control  the  King's  policy  as  well  as  his  affection, 
and  to  become  a  Luines  instead  of  a  Saint  Simon. 

The  practical  sense,  which  Louis  did  not  entirely 
lose  in  all  his  remarkable  philanderings,  discouraged 
these  hopes.  The  King  was  willing  to  listen  to 
Cinq-Mars's  complaints  of  the  Cardinal,  but  he 
always  answered  that  Richelieu  was  indispensable 
to  the  State.  The  minister  soon  discovered  that 
his  protege"  was  ungrateful  as  well  as  incapable,  and 
took  no  pains  to  conceal  his  contempt  for  him. 
Cinq-Mars  had  formed  the  habit  of  accompanying 
the  King,  even  when  he  conferred  with  Richelieu, 


1642]       The  Close  of  Richelieu  s  Career        199 

or  attended  meetings  of  the  council.  The  Cardinal 
bore  this  for  a  while,  but  at  last  he  poured  out  his 
wrath  on  the  favourite.  Cinq-Mars  possessed,  so 
Richelieu  told  him  with  more  truth  than  politeness, 
neither  wit  nor  ability ;  not  only  was  his  attendance, 
when  matters  of  State  were  to  be  discussed,  an  im- 
pertinence, but  the  presence  of  such  an  imbecile  at 
meetings  of  the  council  was  sufficient  to  destroy  the 
reputation  of  the  ministry  and  make  it  the  laughing- 
stock of  Europe.  Cinq-Mars  retired  after  this  out- 
burst to  shed  tears  of  wrath,  but  he  was  obliged  to 
obey.  He  attended  no  more  meetings  of  the  council, 
and  sought  consolation  in  plots  to  destroy  his  enemy. 
If  the  Cardinal  could  expel  his  rival  from  the 
council  chamber,  he  could  not  displace  him  in  the 
King's  affection.  Richelieu  was  becoming  old  and 
his  health  was  more  than  usually  infirm ;  in  the  duel 
between  him  and  his  young  competitor,  the  opinion 
of  the  Court  was  divided  as  to  the  final  success. 
Richelieu's  enemies  might  have  tranquilly  awaited 
his  death,  which  was  not  far  off,  but  he  had  so  often 
disappointed  them  by  rising  from  what  they  hoped 
was  his  death-bed,  that  they  were  not  inclined  to 
wait  for  Providence  to  rid  them  of  him.  Cinq-Mars 
was  in  frequent  conference  with  Gaston  and  other 
enemies  of  the  Cardinal,  and  the  advisability  of 
murdering  Richelieu  was  considered.  A  gentleman 
named  Fontrailles  said  that  if  Gaston  would  give  his 
consent,  he  could  easily  find  those  who  would  dis- 
pose of  the  enemy.  Gaston  was  afraid  to  consent 
to  anything,  and  yet  he  was  pleased  with  any  plan 
that  would  rid  them  of  the  odious  minister;  it  was 


2OO  Richelieu 


11638 


decided  that  it  might  be  necessary  to  kill  the  Cardi- 
nal, but  they  reached  no  definite  conclusion  as  to 
how  and  when  the  deed  should  be  done.  It  seemed 
desirable  to  have  some  city  where  the  conspirators 
could  retire  if  necessary,  and  the  place  chosen  was 
the  strong  city  of  Sedan,  which  was  independent  of 
the  French  King,  and  of  which  the  Duke  of  Bouillon 
was  sovereign.  Bouillon  declared  they  must  have  a 
treaty  with  Spain,  so  that  she  might  furnish  an  army 
for  their  assistance  in  time  of  need.  Save  empty 
promises,  they  had  little  to  offer  Spain  for  her  aid, 
but  the  Spanish  minister  was  always  willing  to  take 
any  steps  that  might  embroil  the  internal  affairs  of 
France. 

Fontrailles  was  accordingly  sent  to  Spain  in  the 
winter  of  1642,  with  power  to  negotiate  a  treaty. 
He  reached  Madrid  about  the  1st  of  March,  and 
met  the  Count  of  Olivarez,  who  governed  Spain 
with  the  authority  but  not  the  ability  of  Richelieu. 
The  Count  was  so  infirm  that  when  he  walked  his 
chin  almost  touched  his  knees,  and  to  conceal  his 
condition  he  remained  seated  during  the  interviews, 
dangling  his  rosary  in  his  hands,  and  talking  a  good 
deal  of  nonsense.  He  had  enough  sagacity  to  know 
that  Gaston  was  a  coward  and  a  useless  confederate, 
but  when  he  found  that  the  powerful  Duke  of  Bouil- 
lon and  Cinq-Mars,  the  King's  favourite,  were  ready 
to  enter  into  a  secret  treaty  against  their  country,  he 
saw  the  possibility  of  advantage  for  Spain.  Ac- 
cordingly, in  March,  1642,  a  treaty  was  signed  by 
which  the  Spanish  agreed  to  furnish  the  confederates 
seventeen  thousand  men,  and  to  pay  Gaston  four 


1642]        The  Close  of  Richelieu  s  Career        201 

hundred  thousand  crowns  in  cash,  and  twelve  thou- 
sand crowns  a  month  as  pension.  No  peace  was  to 
be  made  except  by  the  consent  of  all,  and  any  places 
they  might  capture  in  France  were  only  to  be  sur- 
rendered when  she  yielded  all  that  she  had  taken 
from  Spain  during  the  war.  The  men  who  pro- 
fessed to  take  up  arms  against  the  misrule  of  the 
Cardinal  promptly  agreed  that  France  should  sur- 
render all  the  conquests  which  he  had  won  for  her. 
Fontrailles  returned  from  Madrid  with  his  dangerous 
secret,  and  the  treaty  was  delivered  to  Gaston. 

In  the  meantime  the  intrigues  of  the  Court  con- 
tinued their  course.  In  January,  1642,  the  King 
started  for  the  South,  accompanied  both  by  the 
minister  and  the  favourite,  to  take  part  in  the 
campaign  in  Catalonia.  The  Cardinal's  health  so 
entirely  failed  him  that  he  was  obliged  at  last  to 
abandon  the  expedition.  Attacked  by  fever  in 
March,  suffering  from  abscesses  so  that  he  was 
unable  to  sign  his  name,  he  was  left  at  Narbonne, 
while  the  King,  on  April  22nd,  departed  for  the 
siege  of  Perpignan.  For  over  two  months  the 
Cardinal  lay  in  great  pain  and  in  danger  alike  of  loss 
of  life  and  loss  of  power.  Though  still  exerting 
some  degree  of  control  from  his  sick-bed,  he  felt  his 
position  to  be  precarious.  The  Court  was  filled 
with  reports  that  his  power  was  so  shaken,  that  even 
should  he  rally  from  the  disorders  that  were  killing 
him,  his  influence  over  Louis  was  irretrievably  lost. 
It  seemed  impossible  that  Richelieu's  energy  could 
much  longer  keep  life  in  so  shattered  a  frame,  but 
his  great  vitality  had  withstood  many  attacks  of 


202  Richelieu 


11638 


disease,  and  the  plotters  still  considered  the  neces- 
sity of  violence  in  order  to  remove  him  from  the 
scene. 

Cinq-Mars  had  now  exclusive  possession  of  the 
King's  ear,  and  he  made  every  endeavour  to  poison 
his  mind  against  the  minister.  He  even  proceeded 
so  far  as  to  suggest  his  murder,  if  disease  should 
not  dispose  of  him ;  the  King  replied  that  they 
would  suffer  excommunication  for  assassinating  a 
priest  and  a  cardinal.  A  gentleman  offered  to  go 
to  Rome  and  obtain  absolution,  but  the  King  would 
not  wholly  desert  the  jnan  whom  he  still  believed  to 
be  the  support  of  his  fortunes.  Negotiations  look- 
ing towards  a  peace  were  carried  on  with  Spain  by 
Cinq-Mars,  writing  under  the  King's  authority,  but 
the  fatal  treaty  of  March,  utterly  neglected  even  by 
those  who  made  it,  was  never  brought  to  Louis's 
knowledge. 

The  followers  of  the  favourite  styled  themselves 
royalists,  and  stigmatised  as  cardinalists  those  who 
clung  to  the  fortunes  of  Richelieu.  The  King  one 
day  accosted  a  captain,  a  man  destined  afterwards 
to  be  the  first  bourgeois  marshal  of  France,  and  said 
to  him  :  "  They  tell  me  my  army  is  divided-into  two 
factions,  the  royalists  and  the  cardinalists;  to  which 
do  you  belong  ?  "  "I  am  a  cardinalist,"  the  cap- 
tain promptly  replied,  qualifying  his  brusqueness  by 
adding,  "  the  Cardinal's  party  is  your  party." 

In  the  meantime,  Richelieu  had  somewhat  rallied 
from  his  illness,  and  on  May  2/th  he  left  Narbonne 
and  proceeded  towards  Provence,  apparently  uncer- 
tain as  to  his  destination  and  as  to  the  treatment  he 


1642]        The  Close  of  Richelieu  s  Career        203 

might  expect  from  the  King.  But  his  star  was  again 
in  the  ascendancy,  and  shrewd  courtiers  now  fore- 
told the  overthrow  of  the  presumptuous  and  indis- 
creet favourite.  Louis  was  weary  of  the  campaign 
in  Catalonia,  and  annoyed  by  Cinq-Mars's  incapac- 
ity. The  King's  favourites  found  him  most  critical 
when  they  sought  to  take  part  in  military  affairs. 
Louis  was  displeased  with  Cinq-Mars's  ignorance  as 
a  soldier,  as  he  had  been  with  that  of  Luines,  and 
he  began  to  weary  of  his  follower. 

Late  in  May,  the  French  sustained  a  severe  de- 
feat at  Honnecourt,  and  it  seemed  for  a  moment  as 
if  the  disasters  of  the  Corbie  campaign  might  be 
renewed.  But  the  King  declared  that  his  confidence 
in  the  Cardinal  was  unshaken.  '  Whatever  false 
reports  they  spread,"  he  wrote  Richelieu,  "  I  love 
you  more  than  ever.  We  have  been  too  long  to- 
gether ever  to  be  separated." 

At  this  critical  moment  the  great  discovery  was 
made  which  was  to  overthrow  the  last  cabal  against 
the  minister.  A  copy  of  the  treaty  made  with 
Spain  in  March  came  into  the  Cardinal's  posses- 
sion. How  this  treaty  was  disclosed  still  remains  a 
secret.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  Queen  or 
some  of  Gaston's  attendants  may  have  betrayed  the 
plot;  Orleans  was  surrounded  with  men  like  unto 
himself ;  his  chief  adviser  was  the  Abb6  de  la  Riviere, 
who  was  capable  of  any  treachery.  But  Richelieu 
had  everywhere  an  admirable  force  of  spies,  and  it 
is  not  improbable  that  he  obtained  a  copy  of  the 
document  through  a  secret  emissary  in  Spain. 

The  wonder  is  not  so  much  how  the  treaty  was 


204  Richelieu  [1638- 

discovered,  as  that  it  remained  a  secret  so  long. 
The  conspirators  were  numerous,  reckless,  and  indis- 
creet. Fontrailles  had  been  dismayed  on  his  return 
to  find  the  existence  of  the  treaty  known  not  only 
to  the  Queen  and  De  Thou,  but  to  many  others. 
Cinq-Mars's  secrets  had  been  poorly  kept;  largely, 
perhaps,  because  he  could  not  keep  them  himself. 

The  prudent  Fontrailles  insisted  on  flying  when 
he  saw  that  the  grand  equerry  was  in  peril  of  losing, 
not  only  his  favour,  but  his  life.  '  You,"  he  said 
to  Cinq- Mars,  "  are  so  large  and  well  made  that 
you  do  not  care  about  losing  your  head,  but  I  am 
small  and  short,  and  I  should  look  deformed  without 
mine."  He  therefore  fled  to  England,  and  returned 
in  safety  after  Richelieu's  death,  but  Cinq-Mars 
stayed  with  the  King  regardless  of  warnings. 

The  treaty,  under  which  nothing  had  been  done, 
was  not  a  thing  fraught  with  much  danger  to  the 
State,  but  it  delivered  the  enemies  of  Richelieu  into 
his  hands.  A  copy  was  received  by  him  about  the 
8th  or  Qth  of  June,  and  he  at  once  sent  Chavigni 
with  it  to  the  King.  Louis  had  just  left  the  siege  of 
Perpignan,  and  met  Chavigni  at  Narbonne  on  June 
1 2th.  There  the  treaty  was  laid  before  him,  with 
such  proof  as  could  be  furnished  of  its  genuineness 
and  of  Cinq-Mars's  complicity,  who  was  at  once 
taken  into  custody,  together  with  the  amiable  and 
imprudent  De  Thou,  a  son  of  the  great  French  his- 
torian and  an  intimate  friend  of  the  ill-fated  favour- 
ite. The  Duke  of  Bouillon  was  in  Italy  in  command 
of  the  French  army,  and  he  also  was  forthwith 
arrested  and  brought  to  France. 


1642]       The  Close  of  Richelieu  s  Career        205 

The  other  conspirator  was  the  King's  brother, 
and  he  had  to  be  dealt  with  more  carefully.  There 
was  no  thought  of  punishing  him  with  severity,  but 
he  was  relied  on  to  turn  State's  evidence  and  secure 
the  conviction  of  his  associates.  He  had  so  often 
played  this  part,  that  there  could  be  little  doubt  of 
his  willingness  to  repeat  it,  but  on  this  occasion  his 
conduct  had  been  characterised  by  unusual  turpi- 
tude, and  to  assist  in  bringing  to  the  block  those 
who  had  relied  upon  him  was  an  act  of  special  base- 
ness. On  June  25th,  he  found  that  a  copy  of  the 
treaty  was  in  Richelieu's  hands,  and  he  forthwith 
sent  his  agent  to  negotiate  his  peace.  The  terms  im- 
posed were  simple.  Gaston  must  give  legal  proof  of 
the  existence  of  the  treaty  and  the  complicity  of  his 
associates;  if  his  evidence  were  full  and  sufficient,  he 
would  himself  be  pardoned  and  be  allowed  to  retire 
to  Venice  with  a  pension  of  twelve  thousand  crowns 
a  month,  being,  as  it  was  maliciously  stated,  the 
amount  he  was  to  receive  from  the  King  of  Spain. 

He  was  in  great  distress,  and  sent  the  most  pite- 
ous letters.  '  I  must  be  relieved  from  the  pain  I 
am  in,"  he  writes  Chavigni.  4  Twice  you  have 
helped  me  with  his  Eminence.  I  swear  this  shall  be 
the  last  time  I  will  give  you  such  employment." 
Finally,  his  agent  said  that  if  the  King  would  allow 
Gaston  to  retire  to  Blois  instead  of  to  Venice,  and 
to  continue  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  emoluments 
he  received  from  the  Crown,  he  would  make  a  full 
confession.  The  bargain  was  closed  and  Gaston 
thereupon  signed  his  confession,  in  which  he  de- 
clared that  he  had  been  seduced  by  Cinq- Mars  into 


206  Richelieu  [1638- 

plots  against  the  Cardinal ;  that  they,  with  the  Duke 
of  Bouillon,  had  agreed  to  make  a  treaty  with  Spain, 
and  to  enter  France  with  a  hostile  army  while  the 
King  was  at  Perpignan,  and  that  he  had  twice 
spoken  with  De  Thou  about  the  matter.  He  pro- 
tested that  he  had  never  lent  ear  or  heart  to  any 
design  against  the  Cardinal's  person.  "  All  my 
life,"  he  said,  "  I  have  held  in  horror  such  damn- 
able thoughts  against  anyone,  and  much  more 
against  a  life  so  precious  and  sacred,  which  I  pray 
God  may  long  be  preserved  to  France." 

On  June  28th,  the  King  visited  the  Cardinal  at 
Tarascon,  and  they  met  again  after  their  two  months' 
separation.  Both  were  such  invalids  that  their  beds 
were  placed  side  by  side,  and  thus  their  conference 
was  held.  Louis  feared  Richelieu's  reproaches,  as 
a  truant  schoolboy  fears  his  teacher's ;  but  the 
Cardinal  was  profuse  only  in  gratitude  and  devotion. 
Greatly  cheered  by  this,  the  King,  after  assuring 
the  minister  of  his  confidence  and  affection,  returned 
to  St.  Germain. 

Though  the  King  had  been  prompt  in  ordering 
the  arrest  of  Cinq-Mars,  it  was  feared  that  he  might 
relent,  and  his  resentment  was  carefully  kept  alive. 
On  the  4th  of  August,  Louis  published  and  sent  to 
the  parliaments,  chief  cities,  and  foreign  ambas- 
sadors a  statement  of  his  relations  with  the  late 
favourite,  prepared  by  Richelieu,  and  containing 
strange  confessions  for  a  king.  In  it  he  said : 

"  The  notable  change  in  M.  de  Cinq-Mars  for  a  year 
decided  us  to  watch  his  words  and  actions,  that  we  might 
discover  the  cause.  For  this  end  we  resolved  to  let  him 


1642]        The  Close  of  Richelieu  s  Career        207 

talk  with  us  more  freely  than  before.     .     .     .     We  dis- 
covered that  one  of  his  chief  desires  was  to  blame  the 
acts  of  our  dear  cousin,  the  Cardinal  Duke  of  Richelieu. 
.     .     He  was  favourable  to  those  whom  we  regarded 
unfavourably,  and  hostile  to  those  who  served  us  best. 
The  interest  of  our  state,  which  has  always  been 
dearer  than  life,  obliged  us  to  seize  his  person." 

Louis  then  announced  the  pardon  granted  Gaston 
on  condition  of  his  confession,  and  the  steps  taken 
against  the  others. 

At  Lyons,  the  court  sat  for  the  trial  of  the  con- 
spirators. It  had  been  specially  organised  for  the 
duty,  as  was  done  in  most  trials  for  political  of- 
fences, but  the  guilt  of  the  offenders  was  so  easily 
proved  that  there  was  little  necessity  for  packing 
the  court.  The  only  serious  trouble  was  in  refer- 
ence to  the  presentation  of  the  evidence.  The  law 
required  that  the  witnesses  in  criminal  cases  should 
be  confronted  with  the  accused.  But  neither  Riche- 
lieu's Jesuitical  reasonings,  nor  the  moral  lights 
which  he  threw  upon  the  testimony,  could  induce 
Gaston  to  subject  himself  to  this  indignity  and  to 
meet  face  to  face  the  comrades  whom  he  was  bring- 
ing to  the  block.  The  difficulty  was  solved  by  the 
opinion  of  the  advocate-general  that  one  of  the 
blood  royal  of  France  need  not  be  confronted  with 
the  accused  on  a  trial  for  high  treason,  and  that  a 
deposition  signed  by  him  would  be  received  by  the 
court.  Thus  protected  from  the  gaze  of  his  un- 
happy associates,  Gaston  gave  his  evidence  cheer- 
fully, and  he  could  without  at  all  exaggerating  the 
facts  prove  that  all  parties,  himself  included,  had 


208  Richelieu  [1638- 

sought  the  aid  of  a  hostile  country  against  their 
own  Government,  and  were  guilty  of  high  treason. 
De  Thou  sought  to  escape  death  by  proving  that 
he  had  taken  no  part  in  the  treaty,  and  that  his  only 
offence  was  his  failure  to  disclose  it,  but  the  court 
was  not  organised  to  grant  mercy;  Cinq-Mars  was 
unanimously  condemned  to  death,  De  Thou  received 
the  same  penalty,  with  only  one  or  two  dissenting 
voices. 

The  punishment  was  deserved,  and  any  plea  for 
leniency  would  have  been  useless.  Richelieu  was  a 
relentless  man,  and  he  grew  no  more  merciful  as  his 
end  drew  near.  A  willingness  to  forgive  is  often 
found  in  exalted  characters,  but  he  did  not  possess 
it.  He  could  truly  assert  that  his  enemies  were  the 
enemies  of  the  State,  that  those  who  plotted  his 
death  had  made  treaties  with  Spain  and  promised 
that  France  should  be  stripped  of  her  conquests. 
More  justly  than  Louis  XIV.  Richelieu  could  have 
said,  "  I  am  the  State,"  and  the  Frenchman  who 
plotted  against  him  plotted  against  his  country.  It 
might  have  been  pleaded  in  mitigation,  that  the 
plots  of  such  men  as  Cinq-Mars  were  sure  to  come 
to  naught,  and  the  Cardinal  could  have  treated 
prostrate  foes  with  contempt,  instead  of  sending 
them  to  the  block.  But  he  could  have  replied  to 
such  arguments  that  a  man's  being  a  fool  was  no 
reason  that  he  should  be  pardoned  for  being  a  knave. 
"  I  have  been  severe  to  some,"  he  said  in  his  testa- 
ment, "  in  order  to  be  good  to  others.  ...  I 
have  loved'justice  and  not  vengeance."  This  was 
his  own  vindication,  and  it  was  well  founded. 


1642]        The  Close  of  Richelieu  s  Career        209 

Punishment  followed  close  on  judgment ;  the  court 
met  to  pass  sentence  on  the  morning  of  September 
I2th,  and  on  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  the  con- 
demned were  taken  to  the  scaffold.  Executions 
were  regarded  as  a  pleasing  spectacle  by  persons  of 
all  ranks,  and  in  this  case  the  prominence  of  the 
parties  and  the  nature  of  their  offence  lent  a  special 
poignancy  to  the  tragedy.  The  prisoners  were  sur- 
rounded by  so  dense  a  crowd  that  it  was  with  diffi- 
culty the  carriage  could  make  its  way  to  the  principal 
square  of  the  city.  This  was  thronged  by  a  great 
mass  of  people,  and  every  window  and  roof  of  the 
houses  and  shops  surrounding  the  square  was 
crowded  with  spectators.  Women  as  well  as  men, 
ladies  of  the  Court  and  criminals  escaped  from  jail, 
watched  the  scene  with  the  same  interest. 

The  prisoners  met  death  calmly  and  piously,  sing- 
ing hymns  and  reciting  litanies  as  they  were  carried 
to  the  place  of  execution.  "  We  shall  efface  our 
sins  by  suffering  brief  infamy  and  conquer  Heaven 
by  a  little  shame,"  said  De  Thou  to  his  companion, 
speaking,  according  to  a  listener,  with  the  tone  and 
voice,  not  of  a  preacher,  but  of  a  seraphim.  As 
Cinq-Mars  mounted  the  scaffold  he  saluted  the  vast 
crowd  with  smiles  of  a  charming  sweetness,  and 
then  prepared  for  death  with  equal  grace  and  devo- 
tion. De  Thou  followed  him  with  the  same  firm- 
ness, although  an  observer  says — for  the  public  was 
critical  in  such  matters, — that  Cinq-Mars  met  his 
end  with  a  little  more  of  cavalier  grace.  The  lives 
of  such  men  were  often  full  of  folly,  but  their  social 
training  gave  them  repose  of  manner,  and  a  certain 


2io  Richelieu  [1638- 

fortitude  of  mind  which  enabled  them  to  meet 
death  with  marvellous  tranquillity.  Similar  spec- 
tacles were  often  seen  during  the  Revolution. 
Gentlemen,  whose  lives  had  been  neither  useful  nor 
edifying,  faced  ruin  with  calmness  and  met  death 
with  a  bow,  a  smile,  and  a  prayer. 

The  Duke  of  Bouillon  escaped  the  punishment 
of  his  associates  because  he  was  able  to  pay  a  great 
ransom.  The  strong  city  of  Sedan  still  constituted 
an  independent  sovereignty,  and  Richelieu  had  long 
desired  that  it  should  become  a  portion  of  France, 
instead  of  remaining  a  refuge  for  the  unruly.  Its 
possession  gave  importance  to  Bouillon's  family, 
and  they  were  loath  to  surrender  the  city,  but  the 
Cardinal  stated  the  alternative  with  plainness.  They 
must  do  without  Sedan,  he  said,  or  the  Duke  of 
Bouillon  must  do  without  his  head.  What  the 
Cardinal  threatened  it  was  certain  he  would  exe- 
cute. Confronted  with  such  an  alternative  the  family 
yielded.  '  The  Duke  of  Bouillon  is  so  alarmed  by 
the  execution  of  these  gentlemen,"  Richelieu  wrote, 
gleefully,  after  the  tragedy  at  Lyons,  "  that  if  he 
had  three  Sedans  he  would  give  them  to  save  his 
life."  Sedan  was  surrendered  to  France,  the  faith- 
ful Mazarin  was  sent  to  take  possession  of  it  in 
the  King's  name,  and  the  Duke  of  Bouillon  was 
pardoned. 

The  conspiracy  of  Cinq-Mars,  like  every  conspir- 
acy against  Richelieu,  ended  in  failure,  and  like 
almost  every  one,  it  closed  with  bloodshed.  The 
character  of  the  minister  would  seem  less  sombre  to 
posterity,  if  he  had  granted  pardon  more  freely, 


DUKE  OF   BOUILLON. 

FROM    A    PORTRAIT    BY    BALTAZAR    MONCORNET. 


1642]        The  Close  of  Richelieu  s  Career        211 

but  he  had  seen  how  many  lives  were  wasted  in 
plots  and  purposeless  insurrections;  he  saved  the 
blood  of  the  innocent  by  shedding  freely  the  blood 
of  the  guilty. 

The  careers  of  many  great  statesmen  have  ended 
in  failure  and  disappointment;  they  have  lost  their 
hold  on  power,  or  fortune  has  failed  them  at  the 
last;  the  defeat  of  Austerlitz  saddened  Pitt's  dying 
hours;  the  loss  of  power  embittered  Bismarck's 
closing  years.  It  was  not  so  with  Richelieu.  He 
loved  dramatic  display,  and  if  he  had  held  fortune 
in  the  hollow  of  his  hand,  he  could  not  have  made 
the  close  of  his  career  more  splendid ;  his  life  drama 
ended  in  a  blaze  of  glory. 

Late  in  August,  1642,  the  all-powerful  minister, 
now  better  in  health,  started  on  his  return  to  Paris. 
He  went  up  the  Rhone  in  a  barge,  proceeding  so 
slowly  against  the  rapid  current  that  he  was  seven- 
teen days  going  from  Tarascon  to  Lyons,  a  distance 
of  1 30  miles.  De  Thou  was  carried  in  a  boat  fastened 
to  the  Cardinal's  barge.  The  unhappy  victim  was 
borne  along  like  the  captives  who  formed  part  of  a 
Roman  triumph,  and  at  the  close  were  led  off  to  the 
Mamertine  prisons  for  execution.  The  Cardinal  did 
not  wait  at  Lyons  to  see  the  punishment  of  his 
enemies;  he  knew  their  doom  was  sealed,  and  on  the 
1 2th  of  September  he  left  the  city  for  his  last  jour- 
ney to  Paris.  He  was  too  weak  to  travel  in  a  car- 
riage ;  sometimes  he  went  by  water  and  sometimes 
he  was  borne  on  a  litter.  At  the  houses  where  they 
stopped,  an  opening  was  knocked  in  the  wall  big 
enough  to  admit  the  litter,  and  it  was  then  carried 


2 1 2  Richelieu  [1638- 

into  the  room  where  the  Cardinal  slept.  Thus  he 
travelled  to  Roanne,  and  then  gently  sailed  down 
the  Loire  to  Briare,  dictating  to  his  secretaries  and 
sending  orders  to  generals  and  ambassadors  from  his 
litter.  From  there  he  went  to  Fontainebleau. 

He  was  no  sooner  in  his  chamber  than  the  King 
entered  and  embraced  him  ;  they  remained  for  some 
time  in  silence,  which  friends  ascribed  to  excess  of 
joy.  At  last  all  outsiders  were  directed  to  retire, 
and  the  King  and  Cardinal  held  a  three  hours' 
conference. 

When  the  minister  was  somewhat  rested  he  pro- 
ceeded on  his  journey;  two  days'  sailing  down  the 
Seine  brought  him  to  Paris,  and  on  October  i/th  he 
was  carried  into  the  great  Palais  Cardinal.  Chains 
were  placed  in  the  streets  to  keep  back  the  vast 
crowds  that  gathered  to  see  the  great  minister  as  he 
returned  slowly  home  in  his  stately  litter,  triumphant 
over  all  his  enemies. 

The  infirm  condition  of  his  health  seemed  to  in- 
crease his  activity.  One  of  his  followers  in  a  letter 
written  from  Tarascon,  in  August,  has  described  the 
manner  in  which  the  Cardinal  spent  his  days.  He 
was  unable  to  leave  his  bed,  but  he  had  never  toiled, 
so  the  letter  says,  more  unremittingly  than  then. 

"  From  seven  to  eight  he  works  and  dictates,  from  eight 
to  nine  he  meditates,  at  nine  he  talks  with  those  who 
may  be  present,  and  then  comes  another  hour  of  work. 
Then  he  hears  mass,  and  afterwards  dines.  From  then 
till  two  o'clock  he  has  conferences  with  Mazarin  and 
others,  from  two  to  four  he  works  again  and  afterwards 
gives  audiences  to  all  who  have  business  with  him." 


1642J        The  Close  of  Richelieu  s  Career        2  \  3 

Such  was  the  day  of  an  invalid,  afflicted  by  a  com- 
bination of  painful  maladies  and  fast  sinking  to  his 
grave. 

Neither  his  suffering  nor  the  cares  of  State 
absorbed  all  his  attention,  for  at  this  same  time  we 
find  letters  from  him  filled  with  a  scheme  for  pur- 
chasing another  library.  "  It  is  complete  in  his- 
tory," he  writes,  "  the  books  are  well  chosen  and 
curious,  but  very  poorly  bound."  He  was  eager 
for  the  library;  he  was  always  eager  for  what  he 
wanted  at  all,  and  the  cost  rarely  deterred  him, 
whether  it  was  an  army  to  be  equipped  or  a  book  or 
painting  to  be  bought.  Twenty  thousand  francs 
would  be  a  large  price,  he  wrote,  but  he  presently 
added  that  if  it  was  necessary  to  pay  twenty-two 
thousand  he  would  consent.  Doubtless  he  con- 
sented to  pay  still  more,  if  required  for  the  satis- 
faction of  his  desire. 

The  perils  to  which  he  had  been  exposed  through 
Cinq-Mars's  favour  made  Richelieu  apprehensive  of 
those  who  held  any  confidential  places  near  the 
sovereign,  and  after  his  return  to  Paris  he  began  a 
vigorous  campaign  against  some  of  the  King's  at- 
tendants. Louis  was  loath  to  dismiss  them,  and 
the  Cardinal  became  more  persistent.  He  wrote 
the  King: 

"  Until  all  the  world  is  convinced  that  his  Majesty  will 
neither  esteem  nor  suffer  those  who  do  not  love  the  Car- 
dinal, no  one  will  believe  that  France  is  in  a  condition 
of  assured  tranquillity.  .  .  .  The  ancient  emperors 
always  felt  that  to  dislike  their  ministers,  and  to  be  dis- 
affected toward  themselves,  was  one  and  the  same  thing." 


214  Richelieu  [1638- 

This  appeal  did  not  have  the  desired  effect. 
Louis  was  sometimes  stubborn  in  opposing  his  min- 
ister's wishes,  and  he  may  have  felt  that,  as  the 
Cardinal  was  allowed  to  govern  the  State  according 
to  his  own  views,  the  sovereign  should  at  least  be 
permitted  to  retain  personal  attendants  that  were 
agreeable  to  him.  He  was  not  allowed  even  that 
amount  of  liberty.  Growing  infirmity  only  increased 
Richelieu's  determination  to  have  his  own  way,  and 
on  November  I4th,  three  weeks  before  his  death,  he 
sent  Louis  what  might  be  regarded  as  an  ultimatum, 
in  which  he  declared  that  if  he  were  to  continue  in 
the  King's  service  the  Court  must  be  cleared  of  all 
ill-affected  persons.  Louis  vented  his  ill-humour  on 
the  official  who  presented  this  missive,  but,  as  he 
had  always  done,  he  yielded  at  last  to  the  demands 
of  his  imperious  servant.  He  promised  to  dismiss 
all  enemies  of  the  Cardinal,  to  keep  from  him  no 
secret,  and  never  to  disclose  the  counsels  which  the 
minister  gave  him.  The  offenders  were  at  once 
dismissed.  It  was  the  last  victory  in  Court  intrigues 
which  the  Cardinal  enjoyed. 

Success  attended  Richelieu  during  his  last  few 
months  in  more  important  fields  than  the  ante- 
chamber of  the  King  or  the  halls  of  the'  Louvre. 
The  years  of  mingled  victory  and  disaster,  which 
had  kept  in  doubt  the  outcome  of  Richelieu's  exer- 
tions against  the  House  of  Austria,  were  ended,  and 
the  triumph  of  France  was  now  certain  ;  if  the  Cardi- 
nal did  not  live  to  gather  the  fruits  of  victory,  they 
were  assured  before  he  quitted  the  scene.  In  Ger- 
many the  allied  armies  were  more  successful  than 


1642]        The  Close  of  Richelieu  s  Career        215 

they  had  been  since  Gustavus  was  their  leader.  In 
January,  1642,  the  Austrians  were  defeated  at 
Kempen.  They  lost  eight  thousand  men,  and  over 
one  hundred  captured  banners  were  sent  to  wreathe 
the  arches  of  Notre  Dame.  This  was  followed  in 
November  by  a  still  greater  victory  for  the  Swedes, 
on  the  field  of  Breitenfeld,  where  Gustavus  had 
established  his  fame  eleven  years  before.  The  allies 
took  possession  of  all  Silesia  and  the  most  of  Mo- 
ravia and  Saxony. 

Elsewhere  the  efforts  of  Richelieu  were  crowned 
with  equal  success.  The  capture  of  Perpignan 
secured  Roussillon  for  France.  In  Italy  the  princes 
of  Savoy  abandoned  their  Spanish  allies;  Savoy 
united  her  interests  with  those  of  France,  and  the 
most  of  the  duchy  of  Milan  was  soon  taken  from 
Spain.  In  the  Low  Countries  the  Spanish  met  with 
similar  ill-fortune.  Almost  for  the  first  time  during 
the  long  war  the  French  and  their  allies  were  victor- 
ious in  every  quarter. 

Perhaps  the  Cardinal  did  not  count  it  among  the 
least  of  his  mercies  that,  in  July  of  this  year,  Mary 
de'  Medici,  his  bitterest  enemy,  ended  her  life  in 
exile. 

If  the  hour  of  Richelieu's  triumph  was  splendid, 
it  was  also  brief.  Shortly  after  his  arrival  at  Paris 
he  went  to  his  favourite  country  house  in  Rueil. 
On  November  28th,  he  returned  to  the  Palais  Cardi- 
nal, where  his  infirmities  were  aggravated  by  a  severe 
attack  of  fever.  The  doctors  bled  him,  after  the 
fashion  of  the  times,  but  he  gained  nothing  from 
such  treatment,  and  his  condition  rapidly  became 


2 1 6  Richelieu  [1638- 

desperate.  The  death  struggles  of  the  man  who 
had  so  long  controlled  the  destinies  of  France  ab- 
sorbed the  attention  of  the  Court  and  the  city ;  all 
waited  in  suspense  for  the  end.  On  December  2nd, 
in  all  the  churches  of  Paris  prayers  were  offered  for 
the  restoration  of  the  Cardinal  to  health.  Probably 
few  of  those  who  uttered  them  desired  their  fulfil- 
ment ;  at  all  events  they  were  not  answered.  On  De- 
cember 2nd,  the  King  visited  the  minister  whom  he 
had  supported  so  faithfully  and  loved  so  little.  The 
Cardinal  said  he  must  bid  adieu  to  his  master,  but 
he  had  the  satisfaction  of  feeling  that  he  had  served 
the  King  faithfully  and  was  leaving  him  at  the  sum- 
mit of  his  power,  with  all  his  enemies  vanquished ; 
he  asked  Louis  in  memory  of  his  services  to  care  for 
the  interests  of  his  family,  and  he  recommended  as 
useful  servants  Chavigni,  De  Noyers,  and  especially 
Cardinal  Mazarin,  whom  he  desired  to  be  his  succes- 
sor. Though  the  King's  manner  was  always  cold, 
he  manifested  some  emotion  and  promised  to  re- 
member these  requests. 

The  Cardinal's  friends  and  family  waited  in  dis- 
traction about  the  dying  man,  but  he  met  his  end 
with  perfect  calmness.  Growing  rapidly  worse,  he 
asked  his  physicians  how  long  he  could  live.  They 
answered  that  they  could  not  say,  but  doubtless 
God  would  prolong  a  life  so  necessary  to  France. 
'  Tell  me  frankly,"  he  said  to  Chicot,  "  not  as  a 
physician,  but  as  a  friend."  '  You  will  be  dead  or 
cured  in  twenty-four  hours, ' '  said  the  doctor.  ' '  That 
is  talking  as  one  should,"  said  Richelieu  ;  "  I  under- 
stand you."  A  little  after  midnight  he  received  the 


J642]        The  Close  of  Richelieu  s  Career        2 1 7 

sacrament.  At  three  he  received  extreme  unction. 
'  Talk  to  me  as  a  great  sinner,"  he  said  to  the  priest, 
"  and  treat  me  as  the  humblest  of  your  parish." 
"  Do  you  pardon  your  enemies  ?  "  asked  the  priest. 
"  I  have  had  none  but  those  of  the  State,"  replied 
the  dying  man. 

As  the  priest    brought   the  sacrament,  he  said, 

My  Judge  will  soon  pass  sentence  on  me.  I  pray 
Him  to  condemn  me  if  I  have  desired  anything  save 
the  good  of  religion  and  the  State."  As  he  re- 
ceived extreme  unction,  he  embraced  the  crucifix 
with  devotion  and  unquestioning  faith.  He  met 
his  end  calmly  and  trustfully.  The  chamber  in 
which  he  lay  dying  was  thronged  with  people,  for 
so  great  a  personage  could  not  be  left  to  die  in 
peace.  'His  assurance  appalls  me,"  said  a  bishop 
as  he  marked  the  perfect  confidence  with  which  the 
Cardinal  approached  death.  But  one  of  the  elements 
of  Richelieu's  strength  had  been  his  conviction  of 
the  justice  of  his  own  policy.  He  knew  that  he  was 
right ;  he  was  troubled  by  no  weak  doubts  and  no 
vacillating  purposes,  and  when  the  end  came  the 
certainty  that  he  had  acted  for  the  true  interests  of 
Church  and  State  enabled  him  to  face  death  with- 
out fear. 

He  struggled  a  day  longer.  Feeling  that  the  end 
was  near,  he  turned  to  his  niece,  the  Duchess  of 
Aiguillon,  whom  he  had  loved  best  of  anyone  in 
the  world,  and  said  :  "  I  beg  you  to  retire.  Do  not 
suffer  the  pain  of  seeing  me  die."  She  left  the 
room,  and  in  a  few  moments  he  was  no  more. 

He  died   December  4,    1642,    in  the  fifty-eighth 


2 1 8  Richelieu 


[1638- 


year  of  his  life,  in  the  great  palace  which  he  had 
built  for  himself,  in  full  possession  of  all  the  power, 
the  splendour,  and  the  glory  for  which  he  had 
laboured  so  long  and  faithfully.  Save  to  his  family 
and  his  immediate  followers,  his  death  brought  no 
sorrow.  The  King  was  relieved  when  the  over- 
shadowing presence  had  passed  away.  "  If  there 
be  a  God,"  said  Urban  VIII. ,  "  he  will  have  to 
suffer;  but  if  not,  he  has  done  well."  Over  almost 
all  of  France  a  sigh  of  relief  followed  the  announce- 
ment of  his  death.  Save  the  few  whom  he  favoured, 
the  nobility  were  united  in  a  common  hatred  of  him. 
He  had  trodden  hard  on  the  aristocracy  of  the  robe, 
and  they  did  not  love  him.  The  mass  of  the  people 
saw  only  heavy  taxation,  long  and  wearisome  wars, 
and  his  own  enormous  wealth  as  the  results  of 
his  administration.  The  whole  country  desired  a 
change,  after  eighteen  years  of  the  rule  of  one  man. 
Bonfires  blazed  in  many  places  when  the  news 
arrived  that  the  iron  Cardinal  was  no  more. 

He  was  buried  at  the  church  of  the  Sorbonne, 
which  he  had  built  and  chosen  as  the  place  where 
his  remains  should  be  laid.  His  monument,  erected 
in  1694,  still  stands  in  the  transept,  and  is  not  an 
unworthy  memorial  of  a  great  man.  The  burial 
was  celebrated  with  fitting  pomp.  At  Notre  Dame 
ten  thousand  candles  relieved  the  darkness  of  the 
black  velvet  in  which  the  church  was  enveloped, 
and  showed  the  magnificent  catafalque  containing 
the  remains.  '  Though  for  twenty  years,"  says 
the  gazette,  giving  an  official  account  of  the  cere- 
mony, "  the  most  polished  writers  seemed  to  have 


1642]        The  Close  of  Richelieu  s  Career        219 

exhausted  the  praises  of  the  deceased,  yet  the 
funeral  oration  was  enriched  by  new  ^thoughts,  and 
gave  general  satisfaction." 

Notwithstanding  the  satisfaction  given  by  the 
polished  words  of  the  orator,  the  Cardinal's  name 
was  hateful,  and  when  Louis  XIII.  died  a  few 
months  later  it  was  rumoured  that  the  mob  was 
about  to  deal  with  Richelieu's  remains  as  they  had 
with  those  of  Concini, — to  tear  them  from  the  tomb 
and  scatter  them  to  the  winds.  No  such  attempt 
was  actually  made  until  the  Revolution,  when  the 
tomb  was  violated  by  a  mob  and  the  Cardinal's 
head  was  paraded  through  the  streets  of  Paris  at  the 
end  of  a  pike.  It  is  said  that  his  remains  have  all 
been  returned  to  their  first  resting-place.  It  does 
not  matter;  wherever  his  ashes  may  be,  his  fame  will 
endure  so  long  as  the  history  of  France  is  studied  by 
mankind. 

When  ill  at  Narbonne,  in  peril  of  death  and  in 
great  fear  of  overthrow  from  the  devices  of  Cinq- 
Mars,  the  Cardinal  had  executed  his  will,  which 
now  became  operative.  It  was  in  many  respects 
the  will  of  a  great  nobleman  desirous  of  preserving 
his  estate  for  his  family  according  to  the  strict  rules 
of  feudal  law.  Richelieu  left  to  his  favourite  niece, 
the  Duchess  of  Aiguillon,  large  estates  in  land  and 
sixty  thousand  livres  a  year;  the  Duchy  of  Fronsac 
and  other  lands  to  his  nephew,  Armand  de  Maille, 
and  still  greater  possessions,  with  the  Duchy  of 
Richelieu,  to  his  grand-nephew,  on  condition  that 
he  should  bear  the  name  of  Plessis  de  Richelieu. 
All  was  strictly  entailed,  and  by  a  provision  which 


22O  Richelieu  [1638- 

seems  curious  in  the  will  of  a  priest,  it  was  provided 
that  if  the  heir  at  any  time  should  be  an  ecclesias- 
tic, he  should  not  inherit.  True  to  his  aristocratic 
prejudices,  Richelieu  forbade  his  descendants'  marry- 
ing those  not  of  noble  birth ;  saying  that  their  wealth 
would  enable  them  to  disregard  questions  of  money 
in  their  alliances  and  consider  only  virtue  and  noble 
lineage. 

These  bequests  might  have  been  made  by  any 
rich  nobleman,  but  there  were  other  provisions, 
which  could  only  have  been  made  by  Richelieu. 
He  selected  the  King  as  a  beneficiary,  and  his  gifts 
were  such  as  even  a  king  might  prize.  He  gave 
to  Louis  XIII.  the  great  Palais  Cardinal,  which  thus 
became  the  Palais  Royal,  and  long  remained  a  pos- 
session of  the  royal  family.  To  Louis  he  also  gave 
a  million  and  a  half  of  livres,  to  constitute  a  fund  to 
be  used  by  the  State  in  sudden  emergencies.  Large 
sums  were  given  to  the  Sorbonne.  His  library  was 
left  for  the  use  of  scholars,  but  Richelieu  made  no 
collections,  either  of  books  or  works  of  art,  which 
could  be  compared  with  those  of  his  successor;  he 
took  a  certain  patronising  interest  in  such  things, 
but  he  had  neither  the  strong  love  for  art,  nor  the 
taste  and  zeal  in  the  collection  of  books,  paintings, 
and  statuary,  which  Mazarin  imbibed  from  his  Ital- 
ian ancestry. 

No  figures  are  given  of  the  value  of  Richelieu's 
estate,  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  estimate  it.  His 
wealth  was  very  great;  few  of  the  multi-millionaires 
of  this  era  have  left  estates  which  in  purchasing 
power  would  exceed  that  of  Cardinal  Richelieu.  It 


1642]        The  Close  of  Richelieu  s  Career        221 

was  accumulated  during  the  eighteen  years  in  which 
he  was  prime  minister;  it  was  not  gained  in  com- 
merce or  speculation,  but  from  the  emoluments  of 
office  and  the  liberality  of  the  King;  in  other  words, 
it  was  acquired  at  the  expense  of  the  public.  Thirty 
years  before,  when  Bishop  of  Luc.on,  he  had  sighed 
and  scrimped  to  gather  a  few  hundred  crowns  with 
which  to  buy  a  service  of  plate ;  when  he  became 
minister,  through  his  family  inheritance  and  the 
Queen's  favour,  his  financial  condition  had  im- 
proved, but  he  was  not  a  rich  man.  In  1634,  an 
inventory  was  made  of  his  estate,  and  his  income 
was  then  five  hundred  thousand  livres,  without  con- 
sidering the  value  of  his  chateaux  and  works  of  art. 
This  was  equivalent  to  an  income  of  one  hundred 
thousand  pounds,  or  half  a  million  dollars  in  our 
day.  He  had  been  minister  ten  years,  and  in  the 
eight  years  that  remained  to  him  his  wealth  must 
have  largely  increased.  The  revenue  from  his  estate 
was  but  a  small  part  of  the  income  which  he  enjoyed. 
In  addition  to  this  were  the  emoluments  of  numerous 
ecclesiastical  offices,  and  the  still  larger  emoluments 
of  numerous  political  offices,  producing  in  all  an  in- 
come which  allowed  him  to  spend  four  millions  a  year 
and  leave  a  great  fortune  to  his  family.  In  those 
days  there  was  money  in  politics.  It  should  be  said  in 
Richelieu's  defence,  that  his  money  was  not  gained 
in  ways  that  were  then  regarded  as  corrupt.  He  had 
not  jobbed  in  government  contracts,  as  Mazarin 
sometimes  did ;  he  had  not  plundered  the  treasury, 
as  Fouquet  always  did ;  he  made  no  profit  by  the 
sale  of  offices,  and  received  no  gifts  from  foreign 


222  Richelieu  [1638- 

powers,  though  neither  of  these  practices  was  un- 
known to  statesmen  who  were  regarded  as  reasonably 
honest.  At  times  he  had  been  disinterested,  and 
he  declined  to  receive  some  of  the  enormous  per- 
quisites of  his  office  as  superintendent  of  marine ; 
doubtless  he  could  say  that,  great  as  was  his  wealth, 
he  could  with  ease  have  doubled  it. 

The  salaries  paid  the  holders  of  important  posi- 
tions were  then  very  large.  In  addition  to  these, 
emoluments  which  would  now  be  regarded  as  un- 
seemly or  corrupt  were  pocketed  without  scruple 
and  without  animadversion.  Of  more  importance 
than  the  salaries  and  probably  of  more  importance 
than  the  perquisites,  a  man  holding  Richelieu's 
power  was  certain  to  receive  important  gifts  from 
the  Crown.  No  one  questioned  the  propriety  of 
this;  the  disinterestedness  that  would  decline  such 
favours  would  have  been  thought  extraordinary  and 
almost  superhuman;  if  these  sources  of  wealth  were 
not  increased  by  bribes  and  actual  corruption,  it  was 
all  that  could  be  expected.  A  century  later,  when 
Stanhope  declined  a  great  bribe  offered  him  by  the 
Abb£  Dubois,  apparently  not  without  some  hesita- 
tion and  certainly  without  any  indignation,  the  abbe 
declared  his  conduct  heroic.  Possibly  Dubois's 
standard  was  not  high,  but  it  was  the  average 
standard  of  his  day  and  of  the  century  that  pre- 
ceded it. 

Sully  was  a  just  and  prudent  minister,  yet  he 
acquired  a  grea^  fortune  in  the  service  of  the  State; 
Mazarin  became  one  of  the  richest  men  in  Europe; 
Colbert  was  zealous  for  the  interests  of  the  king  he 


1642]        The  Close  of  Richelieu  s  Career        223 

served,  but  he  left  an  estate  often  millions;  Louvois 
left  a  fortune  which  secured  for  his  descendants  a 
position  among  the  great  nobility.  Though  placed 
by  posterity  on  a  much  lower  moral  level  than  his 
famous  predecessors,  Dubois  gathered  from  the 
State  with  a  somewhat  more  sparing  hand,  and  yet 
he  was  by  no  means  an  example  of  disinterestedness ; 
Fleury  was  indifferent  to  pomp  and  display  and 
died  a  poor  man;  Choiseul  died  a  bankrupt,  but 
this  was  because  no  emoluments  from  office  and  no 
private  wealth  could  equal  his  prodigality. 

The  difference  between  our  own  age  and  the  past, 
in  the  accumulation  of  wealth  by  public  men  at  the 
public  expense,  is  worthy  of  attention,  and  is  en- 
couraging to  the  student  of  comparative  politics; 
the  tone  of  political  morality,  though  widely  differ- 
ing in  different  countries,  is  on  the  whole  higher. 
We  read  of  political  purity  in  communities  where 
modes  of  life  were  simple  and  large  wealth  was  un- 
known, but  we  cannot  compare  with  the  present  age 
exceptional  social  situations,  like  those  of  Sparta,  or 
the  early  Roman  republic,  or  the  American  colonies 
before  the  Revolution.  We  must  examine  countries 
rich  enough  to  furnish  opportunities  for  gaining 
wealth,  and  where  social  conditions  made  wealth  an 
object  of  desire,  in  order  to  draw  parallels  with  the 
present,  and  these  will  be  encouraging. 

Pecuniary  disinterestedness  among  those  who  ob- 
tain important  positions  in  the  State  now  receives 
no  special  commendation  ;  the  man  who  enters  office 
poor  and  leaves  it  rich  is  viewed  with  suspicion ;  two 
centuries  ago,  a  man  who  entered  an  important  office 


224  Richelieu  [1638-1642] 

poor  and  left  it  poor  would  have  been  regarded  as 
a  phenomenon.  When  leaders  in  the  State  scorn 
gains  which  their  predecessors  took  with  alacrity,  a 
like  disinterestedness  inj»time  may  permeate  the 
lower  strata  of  political  life.  If  Richelieu  used  his 
power  to  accumulate  wealth,  he  should  be  judged 
by  the  standard  of  his  age,  but  it  is  pleasant  to 
believe  that  in  our  day  so  great  a  statesman 
would  be  content  with  fame  as  the  reward  for  his 
labours;  even  if  the  desire  for  gain  is  equally  strong, 
the  force  of  opinion  now  restrains  most  public  men 
from  becoming  rich  at  the  public  expense. 


CHAPTER  IX 

INTERNAL   ADMINISTRATION 
1624-1642 

IT  was  Richelieu's  ambition  to  make  France 
both  prosperous  and  powerful ;  he  wished  to 
strengthen  the  army  and  build  up  the  navy, 
and  he  desired  also  to  develop  her  industries  and 
her  commerce.  The  plans  formulated  in  the  early 
years  of  his  career  for  the  most  part  failed  of  execu- 
tion. In  Richelieu's  administration  the  intervals 
of  peace  were  rarer  and  briefer  than  in  the  reign  of 
Napoleon,  and  an  era  of  war  is  not  often  an  era  of 
commercial  progress.  Yet  a  review  of  the  Cardinal's 
career  would  be  imperfect  without  some  account  of 
his  efforts  in  the  line  of  industrial  development,  even 
if  their  result  was  not  all  that  he  hoped. 

France  had  already  begun  a  career  of  colonial  de- 
velopment which,  if  it  had  been  pursued  with  intelli- 
gence, might  have  made  her  one  of  the  great  colonial 
powers  of  the  world.  Richelieu  was  fully  aware  of 
the  importance  of  this  field  for  enterprise,  and  if  his 
energies  had  not  been  absorbed  by  the  Thirty  Years' 

225 


226  Richelieu  [1624- 

War,  he  would  have  done  much  in  this  direction. 
He  realised  that  France,  with  an  extended  seaboard, 
a  soil  furnishing  everything  required  for  naval  con- 
struction, and  a  hardy  population  bred  to  the  sea 
and  trained  in  seamanship,  was  well  equipped  for 
becoming  a  great  maritime  power. 

The  Cardinal  took  the  colonies  and  the  marine 
under  his  special  charge,  and  in  1626  he  was  made 
superintendent  of  navigation  and  commerce.  He 
at  once  applied  himself  to  the  construction  of  a 
navy  that  should  be  worthy  of  a  powerful  kingdom. 
Henry  IV.  had  not  left  one  man-of-war  to  his  suc- 
cessor, and  when  Richelieu  assumed  office  in  1624, 
France  had  no  navy  deserving  the  name.  To  carry 
on  war  with  La  Rochelle,  the  French  government 
was  obliged  to  borrow  ships  from  Holland;  the 
mariners  of  this  one  town,  even  without  English 
help,  were  able  to  contend  with  the  few  ill-equipped 
ships  which  the  general  government  could  call  its 
own.  This  condition  of  affairs  was  changed  by 
Richelieu.  During  his  administration  the  French 
navy  counted  twenty  men-of-war,  besides  eighty 
other  ships  of  various  sizes  and  kinds.  Probably  it 
could  have  met  on  equal  terms  the  navy  of  any 
other  European  nation. 

An  efficient  navy  was  required  for  the  protection 
of  commerce,  and  the  want  of  it  imposed  an  annual 
loss  of  millions  on  French  merchants  and  retarded 
the  growth  of  French  trade.  Piratical  craft,  com- 
ing principally  from  Barbary,  but  with  represent- 
atives from  many  other  countries,  pursued  their 
occupation  almost  with  impunity.  In  the  waters  of 


1642]  Internal  A dministration  227 

the  Mediterranean  and  the  Bay  of  Biscay  many  a 
good  ship  was  overhauled  by  pirates;  sometimes  the 
crew  were  carried  away  to  be  sold  to  a  Mohammedan 
pasha,  sometimes  they  were  murdered  at  once  by 
European  desperadoes,  who  had  no  use  for  slaves, 
and  contented  themselves  with  stealing  the  cargo. 
When  sufficient  plunder  was  not  found  at  sea,  a 
piratical  band  often  surprised  some  maritime  town 
and  escaped  laden  with  spoils,  besides  men  for 
slaves  and  women  for  the  harem.  Such  evils  could 
only  be  destroyed  by  a  navy  that  would  make  piracy 
too  dangerous  a  business  to  be  attractive.  This  re- 
sult was  not  wholly  accomplished,  but  the  increased 
strength  of  the  French  navy  under  Richelieu  some- 
what lessened  a  danger  that  constantly  threatened 
both  those  who  went  to  sea  and  those  who  dwelt 
along  the  coast. 

In  many  other  ways  Richelieu  sought  to  build  up 
the  foreign  commerce  of  France.  He  chartered 
trading  companies,  and  if  none  of  them  attained  to 
great  prosperity,  the  blame  could  not  wholly  be 
charged  to  him.  Colonisation  had  already  been 
directed  to  North  America,  and,  to  increase  French 
trade  in  that  country,  in  1638  the  Company  of  New 
France  was  organised.  The  charter  was  indeed 
liberal :  all  of  New  France,  which  went  by  the  name 
of  Canada,  extending  from  Newfoundland  to  Florida, 
was  granted  the  proprietors;  they  were  to  have  a 
perpetual  monopoly  of  the  fur  trade,  and  for  fifteen 
years  a  monopoly  of  all  trade;  they  could  grant 
titles  of  nobility,  and  many  of  those  taking  stock 
were  themselves  ennobled.  On  them  were  imposed 


228  Richelieu  [1624- 

obligations  properly  required  by  a  cardinal,  for  their 
trading-posts  were  to  be  kept  well  supplied  with 
missionaries,  and  only  Catholics  could  be  landed  on 
Canadian  soil.  These  obligations  were  not  disre- 
garded ;  the  history  of  Canada  shows  that  the  supply 
of  priests  was  always  sufficient  and  often  excessive ; 
whatever  else  a  French  colony  needed,  it  rarely 
lacked  religious  instructors. 

Another  engagement  was  more  imperfectly  ful- 
filled. The  new  company  was  required  within 
fifteen  years  to  land  four  thousand  colonists  in 
Canada,  all  good  Catholics,  to  furnish  them  with 
supplies,  and  to  make  for  them  a  certain  provision 
in  land.  The  company  was  troubled  to  furnish  sup- 
plies, and  still  more  troubled  to  find  colonists.  It 
was  not  because  there  were  no  men  in  France  ready 
to  cross  the  seas  in  the  hope  of  better  fortune,  but 
because  the  Government  gave  them  so  little  chance 
of  realising  their  hopes.  The  same  defect  was  found 
in  French  and  Spanish  colonisation.  Privileged 
companies  held  a  monopoly  of  the  only  trades  in 
which  there  was  a  chance  of  acquiring  wealth.  It 
was  not  worth  while  to  leave  the  rich  soil  and 
pleasant  skies  of  France  in  order  to  plant  crops 
where  the  land  was  poorer  and  the  climate  was 
colder.  It  is  usually  easier  to  make  money  in  a 
new  land  than  in  an  old  and  thickly  settled  country, 
and  this  was  true  of  Canada;  the  trade  in  furs, 
where  the  fortunate  trapper  might  find  game  in 
abundance,  or  purchase  a  valuable  pelt  from  an  In- 
dian for  a  few  beads  or  a  drink  of  whiskey,  furnished 
the  possibility  of  large  and  rapid  gain.  Nor  was 


1642J  Internal  Administration  229 

this  the  only  branch  of  trade  in  which  the  bold  and 
fortunate  dealer  might  hope  for  wealth,  but  the 
Government  kept  the  monopoly  of  all  such  golden 
opportunities  for  the  trading  companies,  and  yet 
marvelled  that  settlers  would  not  brave  the  hard- 
ships of  the  frontier  when  unallured  by  the  chance 
of  gain. 

To  the  system  of  monopoly  Richelieu  clung  in  all 
his  efforts  to  develop  colonial  enterprise.  In  this 
he  followed  the  unbroken  traditions  of  French  ad- 
ministration, and  if  his  political  conceptions  were 
marked  by  novelty,  he  never  manifested  any  origin- 
ality in  questions  of  commerce  or  finance.  But, 
however  imperfect  were  the  agencies  used,  he  drew 
the  attention  of  the  nation  to  the  importance  of 
colonial  development  and  built  up  a  powerful  navy, 
the  first  requisite  for  acquiring  and  holding  a 
foreign  empire.  A  century  later,  France  lost  her 
opportunity  in  America  and  India  by  incapacity  and 
indifference,  but  such  faults  could  never  be  imputed 
to  Richelieu. 

Trading  companies  were  organised  to  deal  both  in 
the  East  and  West,  empowered  not  only  to  acquire 
foreign  possessions  and  carry  on  foreign  commerce, 
but  to  lay  hold  of  tramps  and  beggars,  and  force 
them  to  labour  in  their  employ  for  six  years  without 
pay.  Although  this  form  of  white  slavery  was  little 
practised,  black  slaves  began  to  be  introduced  into 
the  French  West  Indies.  It  is  said  that  Louis  was 
averse  to  this  procedure,  and  was  with  difficulty 
brought  to  sanction  it.  It  is  not  likely  that  he  was 
supported  in  his  humanitarian  views  by  the  Cardinal. 


230  Richelieu  [1624- 

More  than  a  century  was  to  pass  before  anyone, 
save  a  few  unusually  sensitive  souls,  saw  any  harm 
in  enslaving  black  people  when  white  people  could 
gain  by  it. 

A  more  serious  question  presented  itself  in  the 
matter  of  tobacco ;  the  public  conscience  was  more 
disturbed  by  the  sale  of  tobacco  than  by  the  sale  of 
men.  To  the  settlers  of  the  West  India  islands 
this  was  one  of  the  most  important  crops,  but  the 
Government  looked  with  suspicion  upon  its  use.  It 
found  its  profit  in  the  doubt :  an  edict  declared  that 
a  low  price  for  tobacco  would  injure  the  health  of 
the  King's  subjects  by  inducing  them  to  use  the 
weed  too  freely,  and  this  furnished  the  pretext  for 
imposing  a  heavy  duty.  But  the  use  of  tobacco  was 
still  in  its  infancy,  and  the  amount  consumed  in 
France  was  insignificant.  Smoking  was  regarded  as 
vulgar  and  almost  as  immoral ;  a  confirmed  smoker 
was  looked  upon  as  little  better  than  a  confirmed 
drunkard.  Neither  reproof  nor  scorn  checked  the 
habit,  but  the  number  of  smokers  increased  slowly. 
The  price  of  tobacco  was  high ;  it  was  not  then  a 
luxury  within  the  reach  of  the  poorest,  and  the  wide- 
spread use  of  the  weed  is  modern. 

Amid  all  his  cares,  Richelieu  never  lost  sight  of 
his  plans  for  colonial  extension.  Only  a  few  months 
before  his  death,  when  he  was  harassed  by  the  vicis- 
situdes of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  and  by  the  intrigues 
of  Cinq-Mars,  and  when  he  was  suffering  from  a 
fatal  malady,  he  found  time  to  issue  a  new  edict  in 
aid  of  a  society  for  American  colonisation.  Territo- 
ries were  given  away  by  the  edict  with  the  looseness 


1642]  Internal  Administration  231 

common  in  those  days  of  uncertain  rights  and  im- 
perfect geography,  for  to  the  company  was  granted 
all  the  islands  of  the  West  Indies  between  the  tenth 
and  thirtieth  parallels  of  latitude,  a  description  that 
included  Cuba,  Jamaica,  and  Porto  Rico.  The 
privileges  of  the  company  of  colonisation  were  never 
exercised,  and  looseness  in  the  wording  of  the  grant 
was  not  important. 

Another  measure  of  Richelieu,  though  of  no  great 
importance  at  the  time,  possesses  a  certain  interest. 
Russia  was  then  hardly  regarded  as  a  portion  of 
Europe,  and  exercised  no  influence  in  European 
politics.  If  the  Czar  had  taken  a  hand  in  the  Thirty 
Years'  War  it  would  have  excited  as  much  surprise 
as  if  the  Shah  of  Persia  had  decided  to  interfere  in 
behalf  of  German  liberties,  but  in  1629  Richelieu 
sent  a  representative  to  the  Court  of  Moscow,  and 
a  treaty  was  made,  the  first  between  two  countries 
that  have  since  so  often  met  as  deadly  enemies  or 
as  sworn  friends.  This  treaty  had  only  commercial 
advantages  in  view,  and  its  terms  show  how  greatly 
protective  principles  have  grown  since  that  day,  for 
by  it  French  merchandise  could  enter  Russia  on 
payment  of  a  duty  of  two  per  cent.  Compared  with 
the  duties  levied  under  modern  protective  tariffs, 
both  in  Europe  and  America,  the  Russian  Czar, 
Michael  Romanoff,  seems  like  an  early  apostle  of 
free  trade. 

The  reign  of  Louis  XIII.  was  not  marked  by  any 
considerable  degree  of  industrial  or  agricultural  de- 
velopment. Three  centuries  ago,  the  growth  of 
national  wealth  was  slow,  and  during  the  eighteen 


232  Richelieu  [1624- 

years  of  Richelieu's  administration  it  is  doubtful 
if  there  was  any  material  gain  in  France.  Under 
Henry  IV.  there  had  been  a  marked  improvement 
in  the  condition  of  the  French  people.  To  a  large 
extent  this  was  a  natural  reaction  from  a  long  period 
of  internal  disorder;  during  most  of  the  sixteenth 
century  religious  controversies  kept  the  land  in 
turmoil,  the  country  was  overrun  by  hostile  armies 
which  plundered  Catholic  and  Protestant  with  im- 
partiality, agriculture  was  interrupted,  and  no  in- 
dustrial prosperity  could  be  expected  in  a  land 
disturbed  by  civil  war.  When  Henry  IV.  was  firmly 
established  on  the  throne  there  came  an  era  of  good 
order,  of  regular  government,  and  moderate  taxa- 
tion, under  which  the  energies  of  an  industrious 
people  rapidly  repaired  the  losses  of  the  past.  This 
reaction  was  assisted  by  judicious  legislation,  for  in 
commercial  sagacity  Henry's  minister,  Sully,  was 
superior  to  any  French  statesman  until  Turgot. 

If  rulers  cannot  often  increase  wealth  by  legisla- 
tion, they  can  at  least  do  away  with  the  regulations 
which  check  its  natural  growth  ;  of  these  there  were 
many  at  that  era,  nor  are  they  wholly  lacking  in 
France  three  centuries  later.  Sully  was  faithful  in 
his  devotion  to  the  cow  and  the  plough,  on  which 
he  declared  that  French  prosperity  was  based. 
Next  to  the  restoration  of  order,  the  permission 
granted  by  Henry  IV.  for  the  free  exportation  of 
grain  from  France  proved  most  beneficial  to  the 
agriculturist.  Restrictions  on  the  export  of  grain 
were  intended  to  assure  an  abundance  for  French 
needs,  but  their  effect  was  not  to  make  bread 


HENRY   IV. 

FROM  A  CONTEMPORARY  PAINTING  IN  MUSEUM  AT  VERSAILLES. 


1642]  Internal  Administration  233 

cheaper,  but  the  farmer  poorer.  With  compara- 
tively free  trade  in  grain,  the  husbandman  found  a 
surer  market,  and  agricultural  interests  prospered 
greatly  under  Henry  IV.  The  introduction  of  the 
silkworm  added  another  great  industry,  and  in 
many  ways  the  lot  of  the  artisan  was  improved. 
Arthur  Young  was  right  in  saying  that,  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  IV.,  the  economical  condition  of  France 
was  better  than  that  of  England.  This  prosperity 
did  not  continue  during  the  reign  of  Louis  XIII. 
Taxation  became  heavier  under  Richelieu  and  the 
condition  of  the  peasantry  did  not  improve.  The 
treasures  accumulated  under  Henry  IV.  were  soon 
dissipated  by  Mary  de'  Medici.  There  were  over 
twenty  millions  in  the  treasury  when  Sully  was  re- 
moved, and  there  was  nothing  left  when  Richelieu 
was  appointed.  The  Cardinal  was  not  familiar  with 
financial  questions;  improvements  in  the  method  of 
taxation  could  not  be  expected  from  him,  and  he 
did  not  attempt  them. 

His  economic  legislation  displayed  little  novelty 
and  not  much  wisdom.  The  paternal  theory  of 
government  was  in  full  force  and  he  did  not  seek  to 
change  it.  It  accorded  with  his  own  views,  with  his 
desire  to  concentrate  power  in  the  general  govern- 
ment, with  his  conviction  of  the  wisdom  of  rulers  and 
the  unwisdom  of  the  ruled.  The  protecting  hand 
of  the  State  was  extended  over  almost  every  branch 
of  human  industry:  the  State  regulated  the  rate  of 
interest,  that  the  usurer  should  not  charge  too  much  ; 
it  superintended  the  manufacture  of  goods,  that 
fraud  might  be  prevented ;  it  fixed  the  rate  of 


234  Richelieu  [1624- 

wages,  that  the  employer  should  not  pay  too  much 
or  the  employee  receive  too  little;  it  forbade  the 
importation  of  goods,  lest  the  manufacturer  should 
lose  his  gain ;  it  imposed  great  penalties  on  sending 
silver  and  gold  out  of  the  kingdom,  lest  the  circula- 
tion should  be  insufficient  and  the  country  be  robbed 
of  its  precious  metals;  it  told  the  farmer  how  much 
land  he  might  put  into  wheat,  and  how  much  he 
might  plant  with  the  vine,  lest,  in  search  of  his  pri- 
vate gain,  he  should  injure  the  public  weal;  the  ex- 
istence of  laws  of  trade,  which  no  legislation  could 
override,  was  as  little  suspected  as  the  existence  of 
the  law  of  gravitation.  In  these  respects,  there  was 
little  change  in  the  legislation  of  Richelieu.  The 
regulation  of  commerce  steadily  increased  in  sever- 
ity; it  was  carried  further  under  Colbert  than  under 
Richelieu,  and  further  under  Louis  XV.  than  under 
Louis  XIV. 

It  was  not  alone  in  his  business  activity  that  the 
authorities  sought  to  control  the  individual.  We 
find  the  Parliament  of  Paris  forbidding  Madame  de 
Pibracq  to  take  a  seventh  husband.  Doubtless  she 
should  have  been  satisfied  with  the  six  she  had  lost, 
but  such  interference  is  no  longer  practised  by  the 
courts.  The  Parliament  of  Toulouse  appointed 
commissioners  to  decide  upon  the  settlement  proper 
for  a  lady  who  was  about  to  marry.  Another  de- 
cree forbade  a  young  man  of  rank  to  unite  his  for- 
tunes with  the  famous  Marion  de  Lorme. 

Marriage  received  no  more  attention  than  other 
phases  of  private  life.  The  regulation  of  dress  by 
the  State  has  often  been  attempted,  though  no 


1642J  Internal  Administration  235 

monarch  has  ever  been  able  to  control  the  tastes  of 
his  subjects  as  to  the  clothes  they  will  wear.  Many 
restrictions  upon  extravagant  dressing  had  been  im- 
posed in  France,  and  Richelieu  was  inclined  to  re- 
suscitate them.  He  prepared  an  edict  forbidding 
the  use  of  velvet  mantles,  castor  hats,  satin  coats, 
and  other  superfluities;  jewels  could  be  worn  only 
by  women  of  noble  birth,  and  the  use  of  carriages 
was  restricted  to  those  of  rank.  He  did  not  indeed 
venture  to  put  these  provisions  into  effect,  but 
there  was  no  detail  of  life  which  the  Cardinal  would 
not  gladly  have  regulated. 

He  drafted  the  plans  for  an  institution  that  he 
purposed  to  establish,  not  for  boys,  but  for  doctors 
of  the  Church,  and  he  prescribed  their  modes  of  life 
and  even  their  thoughts.  They  must  dine  at  eleven 
and  sup  at  six,  and  with  excellent  judgment  he 
added  directions  that  they  should  always  have  clean 
linen  on  the  table.  The  quantity  of  the  dinner  was 
also  fixed,  a  soup,  an  entree,  a  portion  of  beef  or 
mutton.  After  the  dinner  the  doctors  must  meet  in 
the  hall  and  discuss  some  case  of  conscience  or  some 
question  from  the  Scriptures.  Each  hour  of  the 
day  their  work  and  their  thoughts  were  regulated 
down  to  nine  o'clock,  when  all  must  be  at  home  and 
the  gate  be  locked.  '  The  government  of  the  col- 
lege," the  Cardinal  wrote,  "  is  not  to  be  despotic 
but  paternal."  It  would  be  hard  to  draw  a  line  be- 
tween the  two,  when  the  government  was  in  the 
hands  of  Richelieu. 

If  the  Cardinal  was  unable  to  regulate  the  dress 
of  courtiers  or  the  meals  of  divines  as  strictly  as  he 


236  Richelieu  [1624- 

wished,  he  did  much  toward  giving  to  French  ad- 
ministration the  form  and  character  which  he  de- 
sired. His  great  work  was  in  moulding  an  incoherent 
mediaeval  system  into  something  that  approached 
the  organised  administration  of  modern  times;  in 
every  branch  of  the  Government  his  impress  was 
found,  reducing  confusion  to  order.  In  a  nation 
that  was  at  war  more  than  half  the  time,  the  army 
was  of  paramount  importance,  and  yet  the  military 
organisation  was  in  a  condition  of  chaos.  When 
Henry  IV.  died,  there  was  no  standing  army  de- 
serving the  name;  a  few  ill-equipped  regiments  con- 
stituted the  only  force  ready  for  use  if  war  broke 
out.  The  lack  of  an  effective  standing  army  in  part 
explains  the  frequent  revolts  that  disturbed  the  re- 
gency of  Mary  de'  Medici.  No  nobleman,  however 
unruly  or  discontented,  would  have  ventured  on 
open  rebellion  if  the  general  government  had  fifty 
thousand  soldiers  ready  to  crush  out  insurrection. 
But  the  French  King  was  almost  as  ill  prepared  for 
prompt  and  vigorous  action  as  the  Emperor  of 
China,  and  a  powerful  nobleman  might  undertake  a 
revolt  with  a  reasonable  hope  of  forcing  the  Regent 
to  grant  liberal  concessions  in  order  to  buy  tran- 
quillity. 

During  the  eighteen  years  of  Richelieu's  adminis- 
tration, there  were  not  three  in  which  the  country 
was  at  peace  both  at  home  and  abroad.  Not  only 
was  he  involved  in  almost  constant  warfare,  but  he 
carried  on  war  with  armies  of  a  size  hitherto  un- 
known in  France.  Henry  IV.  calculated  that  he 
could  raise  an  army  of  thirty-four  thousand  men 


1642]  Internal  Administration  237 

with  which  to  realise  his  dreams  of  ambition.  In 
the  war  against  the  Huguenots  in  1621,  the  whole 
army  consisted  of  about  twelve  thousand  men.  The 
King  left  Paris,  says  Richelieu,  with  a  following 
more  appropriate  for  a  huntsman  than  a  conqueror. 
It  was  not  with  such  forces  that  the  King  went  to 
war  when  Richelieu  was  his  minister.  Soon  the 
army  counted  sixty  thousand  men ;  in  1638,  the 
French  had  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men 
under  arms;  if  the  number  seems  small  in  days  of 
universal  conscription,  it  was  then  regarded  as 
prodigious. 

The  condition  of  Europe  made  it  possible  to 
gather  large  armies  under  the  banner  of  any  nation 
that  was  able  and  willing  to  pay  the  cost.  Forced 
service  was  practically  unknown,  nor  could  any  king 
rely  on  the  patriotism  of  his  subjects  to  furnish  the 
troops  needed  for  a  long  war.  But  in  every  part  of 
Europe  there  were  men  in  abundance  who  followed 
the  trade  of  fighting,  and  were  willing  to  sell  them- 
selves to  any  purchaser.  The  unsettled  conditions 
of  the  times  increased  the  supply  of  those  ready  for 
a  soldier's  life;  during  a  generation  great  sections 
of  Germany  were  laid  waste;  the  man  whose  home 
was  burned  and  who  found  no  opportunity  of  earn- 
ing his  living  in  peaceful  walks  took  up  fighting  as 
a  means  of  livelihood.  In  Switzerland,  Hungary, 
Poland,  Italy,  Scotland,  and,  indeed,  in  every  Euro- 
pean country,  the  recruiting  officer  could  find  mer- 
cenaries ready  to  enlist  under  his  banner.  There 
was  a  constant  search  after  recruits,  and  the  price 
was  surprisingly  low.  All  commercial  articles  have 


238  Richelieu  [1624- 

increased  in  value,  but  human  life,  says  an  historian, 
has  augmented  in  price  most  of  all.  In  1870,  a  sub- 
stitute in  France  cost  two  thousand  francs;  in  1630, 
one  could  readily  be  obtained  for  six  francs  fifty 
centimes.  Later  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  the  price 
ranged  from  twelve  to  eighteen  francs,  while  in  the 
American  Civil  War  a  thousand  dollars  was  freely 
paid  for  a  recruit. 

Yet  a  soldier's  lot,  though  it  was  so  readily  ac- 
cepted, was  worse  than  in  modern  times.  Not  only 
was  the  pay  small,  but  the  nine  or  ten  sous  a  day 
were  almost  always  in  arrears,  and  often  were  not 
paid  at  all.  '  There  is  a  Frenchman  in  my  service," 
said  the  Duke  of  Lorraine,  "  who  constantly  asks 
for  money,  — as  if  I  ever  paid  my  soldiers ! ' '  Even  in 
the  French  army  the  pay  was  always  in  arrears,  and 
often  threats  of  mutiny  were  necessary  to  extract  a 
few  months'  back  wages.  '  We  have  sent  a  month's 
pay  for  the  cavalry  at  Casale,"  writes  Richelieu, 
"  but  as  for  the  infantry,  we  furnish  them  bread, 
wine,  and  meat,  and  can  pay  them  only  with  fair 
words." 

The  proportion  of  life  lost  in  battle  was  larger 
than  now,  and  the  loss  by  sickness  was  in  still 
greater  proportion.  If  the  pay  was  irregular,  the 
food  was  no  less  so.  Roads  were  bad,  money  was 
scarce,  corruption  was  on  a  gigantic  scale,  and  of 
system  there  was  none.  Naturally  the  commissariat 
was  always  in  a  lamentable  plight.  Usually  the 
soldier  was  ill  fed,  and  often  he  was  not  fed  at  all. 
If  food  was  wanting  in  the  camp,  there  was  no  lack 
of  filth.  The  troops  could  not  remain  long  in  one 


1642]  Internal  Administration  239 

place,  wrote  a  German  officer,  without  infection; 
the  refuse  of  the  camp,  horses  that  had  died,  the  re- 
mains of  animals  killed  for  food,  were  left  uncared 
for,  to  breed  contagion.  If  the  duty  of  removing 
such  things  was  imposed  on  anyone,  it  was  sure  to 
be  neglected. 

The  soldier  unfortunate  enough  to  become  a 
prisoner  rarely  found  anyone  who  thought  it  worth 
while  to  give  heed  to  his  comfort.  Often,  indeed, 
he  had  an  opportunity  to  take  service  in  the  army 
where  he  was  a  captive,  and  a  change  of  masters  was 
not  grievous  for  the  mercenary  who  fought  with 
equal  zeal  under  any  banner.  But  if  a  soldier  was 
unwilling  to  desert  his  flag  and  unable  to  pay  a  ran- 
som, he  might  be  left  to  starve  or  he  might  be  sent 
to  serve  in  the  galleys. 

Nor  did  a  grateful  country  furnish  liberal  pensions 
for  those  maimed  or  crippled  in  her  service.  Many 
a  veteran  got  his  living  by  begging;  some  more 
fortunate  obtained  food  and  shelter  as  a  return  for 
ringing  the  bell  at  the  church,  or  sweeping  out  the 
cloisters  at  the  monastery. 

Notwithstanding  all  these  hardships,  the  service 
was  more  alluring  than  the  monotonous  discipline 
of  modern  times.  Where  pay  and  rations  were  ir- 
regular, it  was  impossible  to  preserve  strict  discipline, 
and  the  soldier  could  indulge  in  a  reasonable  amount 
of  license.  He  was  only  expected  to  serve  six 
months  in  a  year,  and  he  often  shortened  this  time 
by  desertion;  a  host  of  camp-followers,  men  and 
women,  relieved  the  tedium  of  camp  life;  if  the 
Government  did  not  always  furnish  sufficient  rations, 


240  Richelieu  [1624- 

it  frequently  billeted  the  soldier  on  some  family, 
where  he  made  himself  at  home,  generally  to  the 
infinite  discomfort  of  his  unwilling  entertainers;  if 
sack  and  pillage  were  not  universal,  they  were  not 
unknown,  and  the  scenes  of  riot,  murder,  robbery, 
and  lust,  when  some  unhappy  city  was  committed 
to  the  mercies  of  a  victorious  soldiery,  furnished 
compensation  for  months  or  years  of  danger  and 
discomfort.  "  After  so  much  toil  and  hardship," 
said  Tilly  when  he  was  asked  to  stop  the  horrors  of 
the  sack  of  Magdeburg,  "  we  must  let  the  soldier 
amuse  himself." 

Naturally  such  a  life  did  not  make  the  average 
soldier  a  creditable  member  of  society.  A  French 
king  in  the  sixteenth  century,  speaking  of  his  troops, 
said : 

"  Those  vagabonds  are  abandoned  to  every  vice  ;  they 
are  thieves,  murderers,  violators  of  women,  blasphemers, 
and  infidels  ;  they  pillage  and  destroy  all  they  find,  beat 
the  good  man  and  drive  him  out  of  his  house,  and  do 
more  harm  to  our  poor  subjects  than  a  Turk  could  even 
conceive." 

The  description  was  not  much  exaggerated  and  was 
equally  true  in  the  next  century.  Richelieu  admits 
that  his  soldiers,  being  of  all  religions,  cleaned  their 
boots  with  the  holy  oil,  broke  the  images  of  the 
Virgin,  trampled  the  sacrament  under  foot,  and  used 
the  crucifix  as  a  target  for  musket  practice.  They 
were  guilty  of  other  offences,  more  grievous  if  not 
more  impious. 

If  the  modern    army  was  not   developed   under 


1642]  Internal  Administration  241 

Richelieu,  in  every  branch  of  the  service  there  was 
improvement  during  his  administration.  At  his 
death  the  French  army  was  still  far  removed  from 
the  disciplined  force  which  Louvois  sent  to  conquer 
provinces  for  Louis  XIV.,  but  the  Cardinal  can  be 
considered  as  a  forerunner  of  the  great  war  minister. 
He  succeeded  in  forming  some  sort  of  a  regular  mil- 
itary organisation ;  the  ministry  of  war  could  fairly 
be  said  to  date  from  his  day.  By  his  indomitable 
energy,  he  extracted  the  millions  necessary  to  keep 
great  armies  in  the  field,  and  if  their  condition  was 
still  bad,  their  pay  was  more  regular,  their  food  and 
care  better  than  in  the  past.  He  even  organised 
some  kind  of  a  hospital  service.  The  Jesuits  did 
good  work  in  this  direction ;  they  anticipated  the 
activity  of  the  Red  Cross  Society,  furnished  care 
and  medicine  to  the  sick  and  wounded  soldier,  and, 
if  they  could  not  save  his  body,  granted  him  absol- 
ution and  saved  his  soul.  These  improvements  in 
the  military  system  were  not  altogether  lost,  though 
it  was  not  until  Louvois  became  minister  of  war  that 
the  French  army  exceeded  in  excellence  that  of  any 
other  European  nation. 

Richelieu's  attempts  to  strengthen  the  French 
marine  and  develop  French  colonies  were  not  very 
important  in  their  results.  Under  Mazarin  the  con- 
dition of  the  navy  was  as  poor  as  it  had  been  under 
Henry  IV.,  and  colonial  development  received  little 
attention  until  Colbert  became  minister. 

But  the  changes  made  by  Richelieu  in  internal 
administration  permanently  modified  the  form  of 
French  government.  He  believed  that  good  order, 


242  Richelieu  [1624- 

the  welfare  of  the  State,  and  the  prosperity  of 
the  individual,  would  be  attained  by  centralising  the 
administration,  by  weakening  or  destroying  the  rem- 
nants of  local  rule  which  operated  as  a  check  upon 
the  efficient  action  of  the  general  government, 
and  this  object  he  pursued  steadily  and  success- 
fully. 

The  minister  had  no  taste  for  popular  assemblies. 
He  had  been  a  member  of  the  States-General;  he 
was  impressed  by  its  failure  to  produce  any  import- 
ant results,  and  he  had  no  desire  to  see  such  an  in- 
stitution become  more  effective.  Nor  did  he  view 
with  any  more  favour  the  provincial  States  which 
still  existed  in  some  parts  of  France,  or  the  various 
forms  of  local  activity  which  had  thus  far  escaped 
the  benumbing  influence  of  the  general  government. 

He  would  have  thought  it  impossible  to  fit  the 
people  for  self-government,  and  a  fatal  measure  for 
the  State,  even  if  it  had  been  possible.  For  public 
opinion  he  had  a  contempt  that  he  did  not  conceal, 
and  which  was  not  entirely  unfounded.  '  The 
people  complain,"  he  writes,  "  of  necessary  evils 
as  much  as  of  those  that  can  be  avoided ;  they  are 
ignorant  of  what  is  useful  to  the  State,  and  com- 
plain of  ills  which  must  be  borne  in  order  to  escape 
still  greater  ills." 

Apprehensive  lest  the  people  should  acquire  an 
influence  that  he  believed  would  be  dangerous,  he 
found,  or  professed  to  find,  comfort  in  the  reflection 
that  their  poverty  would  leave  them  no  time  for 
dreams  of  political  power.  In  his  political  testa- 
ment he  wrote: 


1642]  Internal  Administration  243 

"  All  politicians  agree  that,  if  the  people  were  too 
much  at  their  ease,  they  could  not  be  kept  in  the  path 
of  duty.  Having  less  intelligence  than  the  more  edu- 
cated orders,  they  can  be  restrained  only  by  necessity. 
If  they  were  freed  from  all  impositions,  they  would  lose 
the  memory  of  their  condition  and  think  they  were 
released  from  obedience.  Like  mules  accustomed  to 
burdens,  they  are  more  injured  by  long  rest  than  by 
moderate  labour." 

There  was  little  danger  of  the  French  peasant  for- 
getting his  obedience  because  the  burden  of  taxation 
was  removed;  it  was  oppressive  under  Louis  XIII., 
and  grew  no  lighter  under  his  successors. 

Nor  did  Richelieu  view  with  favour  any  scheme 
for  universal  education.  In  an  edict  which  he 
drafted,  though  it  was  never  carried  into  effect,  it 
was  stated  that,  by  reason  of  the  great  number  of 
colleges,  too  many  people  had  their  children  edu- 
cated, and  few  were  left  to  devote  themselves  to 
commerce  and  war,  on  which  depended  the  welfare 
of  the  State.  And  for  that  reason  he  sought  to 
restrict  the  number  of  such  institutions,  leaving  un- 
touched, indeed,  the  parish  schools  in  which  child- 
ren could  be  taught  the  rudiments. 

There  was  little  reason  to  fear  that  education 
would  be  too  widespread,  for  the  majority  of  the 
population  remained  in  total  ignorance.  The  pros- 
perous bourgeois,  who  saw  for  their  children  an  op- 
portunity of  social  advancement,  were  eager  for  their 
education ;  it  was  largely  by  them  that  the  colleges 
were  filled,  and  no  discouragement  abated  their  zeal. 
They  sought  education,  not  from  any  love  of 


244  Richelieu  [1624- 

learning,  but  because  they  realized  its  utility.  The 
petty  tradesman,  who  had  accumulated  money,  de- 
sired for  his  son  a  position  in  the  courts  or  the  civil 
service ;  this  was  in  itself  a  rise  in  society,  and  it  furn- 
ished the  opportunity  for  a  man  of  ability  and  ambi- 
tion to  rise  still  higher.  For  such  a  position  a  certain 
amount  of  education  and  social  culture  was  neces- 
sary; the  boorish  habits,  the  uncultivated  language 
of  the  father  barred  his  way  to  such  positions,  and 
he  was  the  more  eager  that  his  son  should  attend 
college,  should  know  enough  Latin  to  be  a  lawyer, 
enough  grammar  to  talk  correctly,  and  enough  of 
literature  to  meet  educated  people  without  making 
himself  absurd.  The  increasing  influence  of  the 
French  bourgeoisie  was  attended  by  an  increasing 
interest  in  the  education  of  their  children. 

In  a  lower  social  scale,  among  peasants  and  handi- 
craftsmen, there  was  little  education,  and  the  fault 
was  not  wholly  that  of  the  State.  The  facilities  for 
primary  education  were  indeed  irregular  and  uncer- 
tain, but  the  supply  of  schools  more  than  sufficed 
for  the  demand.  In  most  of  the  parishes  there  was 
some  provision  for  teaching,  and  those  unable  to 
pay  could  usually  procure  for  their  children  a  certain 
measure  of  instruction  free  of  cost. 

This  instruction  was  rudimentary  and  not  always 
imparted  by  persons  who  would  shine  in  normal 
schools.  The  pay  of  the  village  schoolmaster  varied 
with  the  liberality  of  the  local  authorities,  but  it 
was  always  a  pittance.  We  find  one  teacher  receiv- 
ing sixty  livres,  or  twelve  dollars  a  year,  another 
forty-five  livres,  another  thirty,  with  wood  and 


1642]  Internal  Administration  245 

lodging  thrown  in;  another  is  paid  as  much  as  175 
livres;  there  was  every  variety  of  price,  and  doubt- 
less an  equal  variety  in  the  regularity  of  payment. 
This  scanty  income  was  usually  eked  out  by  other 
employment.  The  teacher  was  sometimes  the  sacris- 
tan of  the  church,  sometimes  the  leader  of  the 
choir,  occasionally  the  gaoler  or  the  constable.  His 
past  experience  was  often  varied.  One  had  been  a 
monk  who  had  abandoned  his  monastery,  another 
a  soldier  who  had  left  the  service,  and  another  a 
man  of  various  trades  who  had  succeeded  in  none. 
Naturally  the  teachers  were  not  always  all  that  could 
be  desired.  The  people  of  Dauphiny  complained 
of  their  pedagogue  because  he  was  constantly  steal- 
ing fruit  from  the  neighbouring  orchards,  thus  set- 
ting a  bad  example  to  his  pupils.  Others  were  no 
better;  and  often  some  vagrant  instructor,  after  a 
few  days'  work,  would  quit  his  job  without  the 
formality  of  taking  leave,  and  the  children  remained 
untaught. 

Stjll,  the  chief  trouble  was  not  so  much  the  lack 
of  facilities  furnished  by  the  State,  as  the  lack  of 
desire  for  education  on  the  part  of  the  people. 
Ambitious  bourgeois  kept  the  higher  schools  and 
colleges  well  filled,  but  an  ordinary  labourer  saw  no 
advantage  in  knowing  how  to  read  and  write,  and 
had  no  wish  that  his  children  should  acquire  that 
knowledge.  The  hours  at  school  interfered  with 
work  they  could  do  at  home;  the  little  learning 
they  might  extract  from  the  sacristan  or  the  gaoler 
neither  increased  their  happiness  nor  their  wages. 
During  nine  months,  say  some  local  authorities  in 


246  Richelieu  [1624- 

Languedoc,  explaining  the  non-attendance  at  their 
schools,  the  children  were  working  in  the  fields, 
and  during  the  three  months  of  winter  the  roads 
were  either  impassable  from  snow  or  dangerous  from 
the  wolves  by  which  the  country  was  infested. 

In  the  cities  the  proportion  of  uneducated  per- 
sons was  less  than  in  the  country,  and  still  it  was 
large.  Statistics  differ  widely  in  different  places, 
and  any  conclusion  must  be  drawn  with  caution, 
but  in  many  parishes  not  over  twenty  per  cent,  of 
those  married  could  sign  their  names  to  the  certifi- 
cate, and  many  who  could  sign  their  names  carried 
their  studies  in  reading  and  writing  no  further. 
The  greater  part  of  the  population  in  Richelieu's 
day  was  entirely  uneducated  and  was  content  to  re- 
main so,  and  the  Cardinal  himself  would  have  been 
as  much  appalled  by  the  prospect  of  universal  edu- 
cation as  by  the  prospect  of  universal  suffrage. 

There  is  no  necessity  for  tracing  the  various  meas- 
ures by  which  the  Cardinal  accomplished  the  over- 
throw of  local  authorities,  sometimes  by  violence, 
sometimes  by  stealthy  undermining,  or  by  devising 
new  methods  to  render  the  action  of  the  general 
government  more  effective.  Nothing,  perhaps, 
tended  more  to  restrict  the  power  of  these  authori- 
ties than  the  increasing  activity  of  the  officers  repre- 
senting the  central  government,  who  were  known 
as  superintendents. 

The  institution  of  superintendents  has  been 
counted  among  the  innovations  which  Richelieu 
made  in  French  administration.  In  fact,  these 
officials  existed  before  his  day,  but  under  him  they 


1642]  Internal  Administration  247 

first  became  an  important  factor  in  government. 
As  far  back  as  Henry  II.,  we  find  commissioners 
sent  to  the  different  provinces,  instructed  to  make 
inquiry  into  matters  of  interest  to  the  general  gov- 
ernment, or  to  execute  for  it  certain  duties,  but 
such  commissions  were  comparatively  rare,  and  not 
until  Richelieu's  day  do  we  find  these  delegates  of 
the  central  government — superintendents  as  they 
came  to  be  called — taking  a  recognised  part  in  the 
administration.  The  growth  of  their  power,  like 
the  growth  of  centralised  government  in  France, 
depended  not  merely  upon  statesmen  who  sought 
to  utilise  them,  but  upon  the  character  of  the  people 
among  whom  they  were  placed.  Their  activity 
steadily  increased.  Not  very  important  function- 
aries in  the  sixteenth  century,  under  Richelieu 
they  became  persons  of  weight ;  under  Louis  XIV. 
their  authority  was  still  greater;  under  Louis  XV. 
they  had  so  absorbed  the  direction  of  local  concerns 
that  a  pump  in  a  petty  hamlet  could  not  be  repaired 
without  the  approval  of  the  superintendent. 

At  the  beginning  they  met  with  a  certain  resist- 
ance, but  this  ceased  in  time.  Among  a  people 
tenacious  of  their  privileges  and  jealous  of  any  in- 
terference by  the  central  government,  the  power  of 
such  officials  could  not  have  grown  until  it  had 
sapped  the  vitality  of  all  local  institutions.  But 
the  French  have  not  been  averse  to  the  interfer- 
ence of  authority;  paternal  government  has  been 
popular;  belief  in  the  wisdom  of  rulers  has  been 
stronger  than  with  English-speaking  people,  and 
the  impatience  of  restraint  has  been  less. 


248  Richelieu  [1624- 

Thus  the  tendency  to  centralisation  was  fostered 
by  Richelieu  and  his  successors,  and  to  it  the  people 
with  little  reluctance  accustomed  themselves.  Rural 
populations  found  in  submitting  their  welfare  to  an 
all-wise  superintendent  the  same  satisfaction,  the 
same  release  from  responsibility,  that  devout  Catho- 
lics find  in  intrusting  their  salvation  to  the  care  of 
the  Church. 

Superintendents  of  justice,  finance,  and  police 
these  officials  were  called,  and  within  those  three 
great  departments  almost  every  phase  of  public  life 
could  easily  be  placed.  The  instructions  given  the 
superintendents  were  as  comprehensive  as  their 
titles. 

"  We  direct  you,"  so  ran  the  instructions  of  the  super- 
intendent in  the  province  of  Champagne  in  1633,  "  to 
investigate  any  secret  enterprises  against  our  service,  and 
pass  judgment  upon  the  guilty;  to  take  steps  toward  the 
reformation  of  justice;  to  hear  complaints  against  any 
official;  to  examine  all  bureaus  of  finance;  to  confer 
with  mayors  and  aldermen  of  cities  and  see  that  they 
observe  all  regulations;  to  secure  an  abundance  of  pro- 
visions wherever  armies  may  pass;  to  see  that  the  soldiers 
observe  discipline,  and  to  judge  between  them  and  our 
subjects;  to  punish  all  who  infringe  our  ordinances, 
whether  they  be  soldiers  or  officials  of  whatever  degree; 
to  see  that  all  moneys  raised  for  bridges,  highways,  and 
walls  of  cities  are  properly  employed," 

and  so  on,  until  almost  every  phase  of  local,  milit- 
ary, or  political  action  in  the  province  was  subjected 
to  his  charge. 


1642]  Internal  Administration  249 

Even  these  powers  were  less  far-reaching  than 
were  intrusted  to  the  same  officials  a  hundred  years 
later.  Then  the  superintendent  was  indeed  a  vice- 
roy, vested  with  supreme  authority  in  the  province 
to  which  he  was  accredited.  '  The  kingdom  of 
France,"  said  Law,  with  little  exaggeration,  "  is 
governed  by  thirty  superintendents;  on  them  de- 
pends the  misery  or  happiness  of  the  province." 
The  institution  organised  by  Richelieu  had  indeed 
attained  a  stupendous  growth.  Not  only  the  regul- 
ation of  commerce,  the  imposition  of  taxation,  the 
care  of  the  soldiers,  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  but 
every  detail  of  local  administration,  the  repairs  of 
the  parish  church,  the  construction  of  the  city 
market,  the  location  of  the  village  highway,  were 
regulated  by  the  all-pervading  superintendent. 

And  yet  this  official,  a  viceroy  while  he  remained 
in  his  district,  was  rarely  a  person  of  independent 
position.  He  passed  from  autocratic  power  to  in- 
significance when  his  term  expired,  unless  his  serv- 
ices had  been  sufficiently  acceptable  to  the  minister 
to  procure  for  him  some  permanent  appointment. 

For  the  most  part,  the  superintendents  were  in- 
telligent men  who  exercised  with  fair  judgment 
their  extensive  powers.  Richelieu  had  no  confidence 
in  popular  wisdom ;  he  thought  officials  selected 
by  him  could  regulate  local  affairs  better  than  the 
mayor  and  aldermen  of  some  town,  chosen  by  in- 
trigue and  usually  guided  by  selfish  considerations, 
or  the  people  of  some  hamlet,  of  whom  few  could 
read  or  write.  As  a  general  rule,  the  administration 
of  the  superintendents  was  beneficial.  They  were 


250  Richelieu  [1624- 

men  of  larger  experience  and  better  judgment  than 
the  innumerable  petty  officials  upon  whose  jurisdic- 
tion they  encroached.  The  evil  inherent  in  the 
institution  was  the  same  that  affected  many  of 
Richelieu's  political  conceptions.  His  superintend- 
ents brought  present  advantage  at  the  cost  of  ul- 
timate harm.  The  Cardinal  no  more  believed  in 
allowing  a  village  to  regulate  its  own  affairs  than 
in  allowing  a  people  to  govern  themselves.  He  had 
no  more  use  for  parish  vestrymen  than  for  States- 
General.  Certainly  the  bulk  of  the  population  in 
Richelieu's  days  was  little  fitted  for  self-govern- 
ment. Yet  there  existed  in  the  towns  and  in  the 
provinces  many  phases  of  political  life,  for  the  most 
part  relics  of  mediaeval  conditions,  slowly  becoming 
more  and  more  torpid,  which  might  have  been  re- 
vived and  rendered  useful.  Instead  of  being  utilised, 
they  were  minimised  by  Richelieu.  The  paralysis 
of  local  institutions  was  hastened  by  the  all-per- 
vading activity  of  the  superintendents,  and  this 
result  was  favourably  regarded  by  the  Cardinal. 
Unaccustomed  to  take  any  part  in  local  affairs,  the 
French  citizen  was  less  inclined  to  demand  a  voice  in 
the  general  government.  Even  if  he  sought  a  home 
in  some  new  land,  he  still  relied  on  the  represent- 
ative of  the  Government  to  guide  his  course ;  the 
French  colonist  in  Canada  or  Louisiana  was  in  this 
respect  far  removed  from  his  English  rival  in  Mas- 
sachusetts or  Virginia.  The  centralisation  which 
was  injurious  by  the  Rhone  and  the  Loire  became 
fatal  by  the  Mississippi  and  the  St.  Lawrence. 
Institutions  more  important  to  the  country  than 


1642]  Internal  Administration  251 

the  local  bodies  which  Richelieu  suppressed,  or  the 
superintendents  whom  he  created,  began  their  de- 
velopment during  his  administration.  The  title  of 
Father  of  the  French  Press  is  given  to  Theophraste 
Renaudot,  a  physician,  who,  in  1631,  began  the 
publication  of  the  Gazette,  the  first  French  journal 
which  deserved  to  be  called  a  newspaper.  The 
Gazette  did  not,  indeed,  bear  any  close  resemblance 
to  the  modern  newspaper.  The  first  rude  engine  of 
Stephenson  was  not  so  far  removed  from  the  modern 
locomotive  as  was  the  paper  of  Renaudot  from  the 
great  sheets  of  to-day.  It  appeared  but  once  a 
week,  with  occasional  extras,  and  consisted  of  four 
pages  about  the  size  of  an  octavo  volume.  There 
were,  of  course,  no  editorials;  the  press  was  under 
rigorous  supervision,  and  the  editor  who  had  as- 
sumed to  advise  the  Government  or  to  criticise 
Richelieu's  policy  would  have  exchanged  his  sanc- 
tum for  the  Bastille;  occasionally  a  few  words  of 
discussion  appeared,  which  were  sure  to  contain 
glowing  references  to  the  goodness  of  the  King  and 
the  wisdom  of  the  Cardinal.  Advertisements  were 
unknown ;  the  art  of  advertising,  which  has  attained 
such  great  although  not  always  such  fair  propor- 
tions, did  not  exist.  The  tradesman  was  content  to 
keep  his  regular  patrons,  and  did  not  dream  of 
bringing  his  wares  to  the  attention  of  the  commun- 
ity by  encomiums  upon  them  in  the  public  press. 
At  that  period  no  inventive  genius  had  even  im- 
agined the  advantages  of  alluring  displays  of  articles 
in  the  window,  or  of  enticing  suggestions  on  the 
sign. 


252  Richelieu  [1624- 

The  newspaper,  therefore,  manifested  neither  the 
wisdom  of  the  editor,  nor  the  ingenuity  of  the  ad- 
vertiser. Naturally,  also,  its  selection  of  news  was 
restricted ;  events  agreeable  to  the  administration 
had  prompt  mention,  defeats  and  disasters  received 
slow  and  scanty  notice.  Yet,  meagre  as  was  the 
record,  its  importance  was  recognised  by  Richelieu, 
and  in  his  private  memoranda  are  many  directions 
as  to  the  manner  in  which  occurrences  of  import- 
ance should  be  reported  in  the  Gazette.  The  King 
did  more  than  this, — he  wrote  for  the  newspaper. 
The  subjects  treated  by  the  monarch  were  not 
always  of  weight;  they  were  often  the  reports  of 
Court  festivities,  a  class  of  news  which  the  paper 
never  omitted,  or  occasionally  accounts  of  an  en- 
gagement in  the  field,  and,  more  rarely,  a  few  words 
of  political  discussion.  The  Cardinal  approved  of 
this  harmless  amusement,  and  allowed  the  King  to 
describe  events  of  interest,  much  as  the  senior  editor 
of  a  paper  might  assign  a  similar  task  to  a  young 
reporter.  '  His  Majesty  will  send  a  memoir  to 
Renaudot  as  is  his  custom,"  he  writes  to  Louis, 
referring  to  a  recent  battle. 

Humble  as  was  the  position  of  such  a  journal,  it 
was  important,  not  only  as  the  beginning  of  a  great 
institution,  but  because  the  fact  was  recognised  that 
the  community  wished  to  know,  and  ought  to  be 
instructed  as  to  the  doings  of  the  world ;  that  wars 
and  treaties  were  not  solely  for  the  consideration  of 
ministers,  but  it  was  important  that  the  public 
should  have  the  means  of  passing  judgment  upon 
them. 


1642]  Internal  Administration  253 

Newspapers,  like  books,  were  under  rigorous 
supervision.  The  edicts  by  which  the  liberty  of 
the  press  was  restricted  were  no  more  severe  under 
Richelieu  than  they  had  long  been,  but  under  his 
rule  laws  which  had  been  dead  letters  were  put  in 
execution.  The  minister  recognised  the  import- 
ance of  public  opinion,  and  was  the  more  resolved 
that  it  should  not  be  misdirected.  '  The  Gazette 
will  do  its  duty,"  he  writes,  "  or  Renaudot  will  be 
deprived  of  the  pensions  he  has  received."  The 
Gazette  always  did  its  duty  and  Renaudot  was  never 
left  pensionless. 

The  punishment  of  those  who  ventured  to  criticise 
the  Government  was  severe.  Death  was  often  pre- 
scribed for  such  offences;  it  was  rarely  inflicted,  but 
long  imprisonment  was  an  ordinary  penalty.  So 
rigorous  was  the  censure  that  even  almanacs  were 
not  regarded  as  beneath  attention ;  they  were  for- 
bidden to  print  anything  of  a  more  dangerous  char- 
acter than  the  phases  of  the  moon,  eclipses,  and  the 
various  conditions  and  humours  of  the  weather. 
Poor  Richard's  Almanac  would  have  been  repressed 
under  Richelieu.  Hostile  criticism  was  forbidden 
and  absolute  silence  on  political  questions  was  pre- 
ferred. '  Whoever  treats  or  disputes  concerning 
the  power  or  supreme  authority  of  the  King,  or 
of  any  other  sovereign,  save  by  his  Majesty's  per- 
mission," says  an  edict,  "will  be  punished  as  a  dan- 
gerous person  and  a  disturber  of  the  public  peace." 

Richelieu  sought  to  eradicate  a  pernicious  practice 
of  the  French  nobility;  he  succeeded  in  checking  it 
temporarily,  though  it  continued  to  flourish  long 


254  Richelieu  [1624- 

after  his  day.  Duelling  in  France  had  steadily  in- 
creased in  virulence.  This  custom  has  never  en- 
joyed great  favour  among  northern  nations,  and  by 
most  English-speaking  people  has  long  been  re- 
garded, not  only  as  vicious,  but  as  absurd.  It 
found  a  more  congenial  soil  farther  south,  and  is 
still  prevalent  in  France,  though  it  is  now  little 
more  than  a  harmless  pastime.  In  the  early  part 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  duelling  was  much 
practised  by  French  gentlemen,  and  it  was  not  the 
innocent  sport  which  it  has  become  among  their 
descendants.  The  results  of  such  meetings  were 
often  as  serious  as  their  pretext  was  slight ;  not  only 
some  grave  insult,  but  a  trifling  word,  a  discourteous 
gesture,  an  imaginary  affront  must  be  wiped  out  in 
blood.  The  man  who  declined  a  cartel  would  have 
been  disgraced,  but  no  one  refused  such  an  invita- 
tion. The  nobility  were  reckless  of  life  and  eager 
to  gain  a  reputation  for  gallantry,  and  a  successful 
duel  was  often  a  step  to  favour. 

Such  encounters  were  so  frequent  that  the  public 
streets  sometimes  became  the  field  of  battle.  Oc- 
casionally they  fought  at  night  by  the  light  of  the 
stars  or  with  the  aid  of  torches,  and  fashion  sug- 
gested a  constant  variety  in  the  modes  of  warfare. 
But,  whatever  were  the  differences  in  the  hours  of 
fighting  or  the  weapons  used,  the  results  were  gen- 
erally serious  and  often  fatal.  One  gentleman, 
of  whom  Richelieu  found  nothing  worse  to  say 
than  that  he  was  brave  but  cruel,  fought  seventeen 
duels  and  killed  sixteen  of  his  opponents.  The  ob- 
ject of  a  duel  in  those  days  was  to  kill,  and  if  one 


1642]  Internal  Administration  255 

of  the  parties  were  disabled  or  lost  his  weapons,  his 
opponent  ran  a  sword  through  him  without  com- 
punction and  without  fear  of  criticism.  A  duellist 
whose  antagonist  had  lost  his  weapon  allowed  him 
to  procure  another  instead  of  forthwith  killing  him, 
and  this  was  noised  abroad  as  an  act  of  extraordin- 
ary magnanimity. 

Not  only  the  principals  but  the  seconds  took 
part  in  the  encounter,  though  the  latter  had  not 
even  the  pretence  of  a  quarrel  and  fought  one 
another  solely  as  a  matter  of  etiquette.  Seconds 
were  often  killed,  yet  the  honour  of  filling  the  posi- 
tion was  eagerly  sought,  and  those  fortunate  enough 
to  have  a  duel  in  prospect  were  besieged  by  would- 
be  recruits.  A  lad  who  had  just  joined  the  service 
as  a  cadet,  overhearing  a  young  officer  making 
arrangements  for  a  duel,  forthwith  declared  that 
unless  he  were  added  to  the  seconds,  he  would  ex- 
pose the  matter  to  the  superiors,  and  as  a  result  of 
his  threats  he  was  put  on  the  list.  Six  young  offi- 
cers took  part  in  the  contest,  of  whom  two  were 
killed  and  three  grievously  wounded.  Sometimes  a 
duelling  party  was  enlarged  to  ten  or  twelve,  of  whom 
only  two  had  any  grievance,  and  the  others  endeav- 
oured to  kill  each  other  as  a  matter  of  amusement. 

There  had  been  frequent  edicts  against  duelling, 
but  like  most  laws  which  are  not  supported  by 
popular  sentiment,  they  remained  unexecuted.  In 
the  reign  of  Henry  IV.  duelling  was  forbidden 
under  severe  penalties;  the  penalties  were  never 
imposed,  and  it  was  well  known  that  the  King  re- 
garded a  skilful  duellist  with  favour. 


256  Richelieu  [1624- 

Richelieu  not  only  issued  a  new  edict  against 
duelling,  but  he  put  it  in  execution.  The  Count 
of  Bouteville  had  already  fought  twenty-two  duels, 
but  not  content  with  this,  in  1627,  he  insisted  on 
fighting  his  twenty-third  with  much  publicity  in  the 
Place  Royale,  in  Paris,  and  killed  his  opponent. 
The  Cardinal  resolved  that  he  should  be  made  an 
example,  and  Bouteville  and  his  second  were  tried 
and  condemned  to  death.  The  count  belonged  to 
the  great  family  of  Montmorenci,  his  son  was  to  be 
the  famous  Marshal  Luxembourg,  and  his  friends 
and  kinsmen  could  not  believe  that  a  gentleman 
would  suffer  a  felon's  death  for  so  harmless  an  act  as 
killing  a  man  in  a  duel.  Both  principal  and  second 
were  executed,  and  their  fate  excited  universal  com- 
miseration. However  willing  to  meet  death  at  the 
hands  of  a  social  equal,  no  one  wished  to  meet  death 
at  the  hands  of  the  public  executioner,  and  the  fre- 
quency of  duels  was  somewhat  abated.  But  they 
were  not  unknown  in  Richelieu's  day,  and  so  diffi- 
cult is  it  to  punish  what  public  opinion  approves, 
that  even  the  Cardinal  did  not  seek  out  offenders 
who  avoided  undue  publicity.  After  his  death,  the 
practice  was  again  unrestrained  ;  in  the  eight  years 
of  Anne  of  Austria's  regency,  almost  one  thousand 
gentlemen  were  killed  in  duels.  They  became  less 
numerous  and  less  bloody  under  Louis  XIV.  The 
King  disapproved  of  them  and  customs  had  grown 
milder.  The  "  brave  but  cruel  gentleman  "  whom 
Richelieu  viewed  with  a  certain  admiration,  would 
have  been  regarded  merely  as  a  cutthroat  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  century ;  the  amelioration  of 


16421  Internal  Administration  257 

manners,  more  than  any  edicts,  checked  the  ferocity 
of  French  duelling. 

Another  measure  attracted  little  attention,  though 
it  was  the  formal  assumption  of  what  has  since  be- 
come one  of  the  most  important  functions  of  govern- 
ment. Correspondence  by  letter  was  comparatively 
rare;  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  population 
could  not  write,  business  relations  were  little  ex- 
tended, the  Parisian  shopkeeper  sent  one  letter 
where  his  successor,  the  great  merchant,  now  sends 
a  hundred ;  the  difficulty  and  expense  of  communi- 
cating with  remote  towns  kept  correspondence 
within  narrow  bounds.  Still  there  was  a  necessity 
for  some  means  of  communication,  but  the  State 
had  not  as  yet  assumed  the  task  of  furnishing  it. 
As  far  back  as  the  reign  of  Louis  XI.,  a  service  had 
been  organised  of  messengers  travelling  on  horse- 
back, but  their  duties  were  confined  to  carrying 
despatches  of  the  Government  to  different  parts  of 
France,  or  to  its  representatives  abroad.  By  a 
curious  regulation,  the  University  of  Paris  acted  as 
general  postman ;  to  it  was  granted  the  exclusive 
right  of  supplying  messengers  to  carry  letters, 
money,  and  packages  to  various  parts  of  the  king- 
dom. The  privilege  was  of  some  value,  and,  in 
1630,  royal  messengers  began  to  carry  letters  for 
private  persons.  This  duty  was  at  first  intrusted  to 
certain  officials  who  purchased  their  positions,  and 
received  for  themselves  the  profits  to  be  made.  The 
Government  derived  its  gain  from  the  sale  of  the 
offices,  but  this  measure  led  to  a  change  of  far  more 
importance,  and  thirty  years  later  the  Government 


258  Richelieu  [1624-1642] 

assumed  exclusive  charge  of  the  mails.  Alike  from 
the  cost  of  transportation  and  the  small  amount  of 
correspondence,  the  system  was  still  in  its  infancy. 
In  1630,  two  carriers  each  week  took  letters  from 
Paris,  and  this  was  considered  as  a  sufficient  service 
for  the  needs  of  the  city.  For  places  no  more 
distant  than  Lyons  the  postage  for  letters  was 
three  sous,  the  same  price  that  is  charged  now,  but 
three  sous  in  relative  value  were  equal  to  fifteen  sous 
in  our  day. 

The  difference  in  the  cost  of  transportation  can 
be  illustrated  in  other  ways  than  the  cost  of  postage. 
Shortly  after  1638,  the  canal  of  Briare  was  com- 
pleted. It  was  commenced  under  Henry  IV.,  but 
though  it  extended  less  than  fifty  miles  he  aban- 
doned a  task  which  exceeded  the  moderate  engineer- 
ing skill  of  his  time.  Some  years  later  the  interest 
of  the  Government  in  the  unfinished  ditch  was  ceded 
to  private  parties,  and  by  them  the  enterprise  was 
again  undertaken  and  completed.  The  canal  fur- 
nished a  route  by  which  goods  from  Touraine  and 
Anjou  could  reach  the  Seine  by  water,  and  great 
was  the  admiration  when  boats  loaded  at  Tours  and 
Angers  appeared  at  the  wharves  in  Paris.  Yet  this 
traffic,  cheap  in  comparison  with  transportation  by 
land,  was  subject  to  charges  which  now  would  be 
thought  ruinous.  The  carriage  of  a  ton  of  mer- 
chandise from  Briare  to  Paris  by  the  canal,  com- 
puted in  relative  values,  cost  seventy-two  francs. 
The  same  quantity  is  now  carried  the  same  distance 
by  water  for  one  sixth  of  that  sum,  and  by  rail  for 
about  one  fifth  of  the  cost  and  at  ten  times  the  speed. 


CHAPTER  X 
RICHELIEU'S  RELATIONS  WITH  THE  CHURCH 

RICHELIEU'S  career  as  a  statesman  was  gov- 
erned by  considerations  of  worldly  policy, 
and  little  influenced  by  regard  for  the  in- 
terests of  the  Church  of  which  he  was  a  priest. 
Even  his  action  against  the  Huguenots  was  based 
upon  secular  motives;  he  sought  to  overthrow  the 
Protestant  party  in  France,  not  because  they  were 
always  rebels  against  the  Church,  but  because  they 
were  often  rebels  against  the  State.  When  their 
political  power  was  destroyed,  they  suffered  no 
further  molestation  from  the  minister;  the  meas- 
ures adopted  by  Louis  XIV.  which  drove  from 
France  hundreds  of  thousands  of  useful  citizens, 
Richelieu  would  have  regarded  with  reprobation. 
During  most  of  his  administration  he  was  the  ally 
of  Protestant  states  and  the  enemy  of  Catholic 
princes.  Naturally  he  was  regarded  at  Rome  with 
little  favour,  and  he  excited  the  constant  animosity 
of  the  extreme  Catholic  party  in  France.  That  he 
was  an  unworthy  priest,  that  he  waged  war  against 
Catholicism  and  espoused  the  cause  of  misbelievers, 

259 


260  Richelieu 

that  he  opposed  the  true  faith  in  its  efforts  to  reclaim 
the  unfaithful,  were  accusations  of  which  his  enemies 
never  wearied. 

Nevertheless  the  Cardinal  was  a  strong  and  fer- 
vent Catholic,  his  faith  in  the  principles  of  the 
Christian  religion  and  in  the  dogmas  of  the  Catholic 
Church  was  implicit  and  unquestioning;  his  enemies 
upbraided  him  as  a  worldly  priest,  but  if  he  was 
sometimes  remiss  in  his  practice,  he  was  always 
sincere  in  his  profession. 

Not  only  was  he  sincere  in  his  acceptance  of  the 
dogmas  of  the  Church,  but  at  times  he  did  not  dis- 
card what  we  should  regard  as  superstitions.  Like 
all  men,  however  great,  he  belonged  to  his  own 
generation,  and  if  he  had  not  the  religious  zeal  of 
Father  Joseph,  he  shared  most  of  the  Capuchin's 
beliefs.  The  writings  to  which  we  have  already 
referred  show  that  Richelieu  attached  some  import- 
ance to  the  practice  of  magic  arts.  Presentiments 
and  prognostics  disturbed  his  mind,  he  gave  heed 
to  lucky  and  unlucky  days,  he  feared  that  sorcerers 
and  magicians  might  sometimes  accomplish  their 
ends.  He  had  also  a  certain  wavering  belief  in 
alchemy  and  astrology.  An  impostor  named  Bois- 
maille,  who  declared  that  he  could  turn  base  metal 
into  gold,  excited  such  confidence  that  he  was 
allowed  to  make  his  experiments  in  the  Louvre,  in 
great  secrecy,  but  in  the  presence  of  the  King  and 
the  minister,  who  watched  with  eagerness  for  the  re- 
sult. Naturally  it  was  unsatisfactory,  and  Richelieu 
vented  his  chagrin  at  becoming  the  victim  of 
such  folly,  by  turning  over  the  unlucky  charlatan 


Relations  with  the  Church  261 

to  the  courts,  where  he  was  condemned  for  sor- 
cery and  coining  false  money,  and  speedily  put  to 
death. 

The  Cardinal  seems  to  have  reposed  some  con- 
fidence in  supernatural  revelations,  and  at  the  mon- 
astery of  the  Crucifixion  a  voice  foretold  for  him  the 
deliverance  of  Saint  Jean  de  Losne.  The  revelation 
was  applied  to  LaCapelle  and  proved  erroneous,  but 
when  the  siege  of  Saint  Jean  de  Losne  was  raised, 
the  voice  corrected  the  misapprehension,  and  said, 
"  I  did  not  name  La  Capelle. "  Thus  the  prophecy 
was  fulfilled,  apparently  to  Richelieu's  satisfaction, 
for  he  dwells  upon  the  truth  of  this  revelation  in  a 
confidential  letter  to  the  King. 

Such  prophecies  did  not  always  prove  trustworthy. 
Father  Joseph  had  a  strong  tendency  towards  re- 
ligious exaltation  and  was  quite  ready  to  believe  in 
superhuman  interposition.  In  1638,  one  of  the  nuns 
of  the  Calvary  saw  in  a  vision  Saint  Omar  captured 
by  the  French;  this  was  repeated  to  the  Capuchin, 
who  used  it  as  an  argument  to  induce  Richelieu  to 
order  the  siege.  Doubtless  Father  Joseph  was 
sincere  in  his  belief  in  the  divine  vision ;  how  far  it 
influenced  Richelieu  is  less  certain.  At  all  events, 
the  siege  was  undertaken  and  failed,  and  the  Card- 
inal in  his  anger  reviled  his  follower  for  urging  the 
enterprise. 

Like  other  men  he  was  most  apt  to  meditate  on 
matters  of  religion  when  earthly  affairs  went  ill,  and 
during  the  disasters  of  the  campaign  of  Corbie  he  ex- 
perienced a  genuine  religious  revival.  He  confessed 
and  communicated  with  greater  frequency.  He 


262  Richelieu 

manifested  his  newly  awakened  zeal  by  composing 
his  book  entitled  The  Best  Method  to  Convert  Her- 
etics, and  by  writing  to  his  generals  that,  while 
freely  exposing  their  bodies,  they  should  take  good 
heed  that  their  souls  were  in  no  peril. 

It  was  at  Richelieu's  instance  that  in  the  follow- 
ing year  Louis  XIII.  solemnly  dedicated  France  to 
the  holy  and  glorious  Virgin,  whom  he  declared  the 
special  protector  of  the  realm.  The  dedication  was 
made  by  formal  proclamation,  and  was  accompanied 
by  great  religious  ceremonies ;  a  lamp,  which  should 
forever  burn,  was  placed  in  Notre  Dame  in  memory 
of  the  event,  which  was,  moreover,  to  be  celebrated 
by  yearly  processions.  Richelieu  himself  endowed 
a  lamp  and  a  perpetual  mass  in  the  convent  of  the 
Crucifixion.  But  he  seems  to  have  gone  beyond 
the  religious  feeling  of  his  time.  The  dedication  of 
the  kingdom  to  the  Virgin  might  have  aroused  pa- 
triotic enthusiasm  two  centuries  before;  a  hundred 
years  later  such  an  act  would  have  called  forth  the 
jests  of  unbelievers  without  arousing  the  zeal  of  the 
faithful.  In  1638,  it  excited  neither  fervour  nor  con- 
tempt, but  was  viewed  with  indifference.  Religious 
belief  was  still  general,  but  the  time  was  past  when 
such  an  act  appealed  strongly  to  religious  feeling. 

In  Richelieu's  private  papers  are  some  curious 
illustrations  of  his  dealings  with  his  Maker.  In 
1611,  when  he  was  suffering  from  illness,  we  find 
this  vow,  which  he  took  the  pains  to  commit  to 
writing: 

"  If  it  pleases  the  Divine  Goodness  by  the  intercession 
of  the  blessed  Saint  John  to  deliver  me  within  eight  days 


Relations  with  the  Church  263 

from  the  extraordinary  pain  of  my  head  which  torments 
me,  I  will  establish  in  my  house  at  Richelieu  a  mass, 
which  shall  be  celebrated  every  Sunday  in  the  year,  and 
I  will  give  the  chaplain  an  annual  revenue  of  thirty-six 
livres  for  these  masses,  which  are  to  be  celebrated  as 
thanksgivings." 

It  has  been  observed  that  irf  this  vow  we  can  recog- 
nise something  of  the  imperious  minister  of  the 
future :  Richelieu  wished  to  be  cured  and  he  wished 
to  be  cured  in  eight  days;  he  dictated  terms  even 
to  the  Almighty.  If  born  in  barbarism,  he  would 
have  been  one  of  those  savages  who  demand  an  ad- 
vantage from  the  idol,  and  if  they  do  not  receive  it 
forthwith  break  to  pieces  the  useless  deity.  Appar- 
ently the  headache  was  not  satisfactorily  cured,  for 
there  is  no  record  of  the  establishment  of  the  masses. 
Richelieu  was  exact  in  his  bargains  with  God  and 
man. 

If  he  was  often  credulous,  there  were  times 
when  his  good  sense  saved  him  from  vulgar  error. 
Anne  of  Austria  was  childless,  and  for  many  years 
devotees  insisted  that  application  should  be  made 
to  one  Isidore  of  Spain,  a  saint  who  had  worked 
notable  miracles  in  such  cases,  that  he  might  exert 
himself  in  the  Queen's  behalf.  But  the  Cardinal 
expressed  doubts  as  to  the  success  of  the  holy  man's 
efforts.  Possibly  he  did  not  wish  that  the  position 
of  the  Queen,  his  enemy,  should  be  strengthened 
by  her  becoming  mother  of  an  heir  to  the  throne. 
At  all  events,  the  birth  of  the  future  Louis  XIV., 
in  1638,  removed  the  necessity  for  invoking  the  aid 
of  the  saint. 


264  Richelieu 

Richelieu's  views  on  the  question  of  witchcraft, 
and  his  conduct  toward  those  accused  of  that  crime, 
form  an  interesting  chapter  in  his  intellectual  his- 
tory. The  belief  in  witchcraft  was  widespread ;  it 
was  as  prevalent  in  France  as  in  most  other  European 
countries,  and  the  punishment  of  supposed  witches 
was  frequent  and  severe.  Yet,  before  Richelieu's 
day,  some  writers,  more  enlightened  or  more  scep- 
tical, had  begun  to  question  whether  such  a  thing 
really  existed.  Montaigne  discussed  the  question 
with  acute  and  pleasing  satire.  The  Renaissance, 
the  Reformation,  new  discoveries  in  science  and 
geography,  had  produced  their  influence  in  France, 
and  many  beliefs,  accepted  without  question  two 
centuries  before,  were  now  openly  or  secretly  dis- 
carded. But  the  Catholic  Church  still  denounced  the 
damnable  iniquity  of  witchcraft,  and  gave  special 
heed  to  the  discovery  and  punishment  of  this  form 
of  wickedness,  and  if  the  Huguenots  disbelieved 
transubstantiation,  they  were  quite  ready  to  believe 
in  sorcerers  and  demons.  In  the  first  half  of  the 
seventeenth  century  executions  of  witches  were  not 
infrequent,  and  witchcraft  was  one  of  the  recog- 
nised forms  of  crime.  Most  of  these  cases  attracted 
little  attention  ;  the  accused  were  obscure  and  ignor- 
ant, and  their  fate  excited  no  popular  interest.  But 
one  trial  was  of  so  notable  a  character  that  Richelieu 
could  not  pass  it  by  unnoticed. 

Urbain  Grandier  was  a  priest  of  pleasing  address 
and  handsome  person,  the  cur6  of  the  church  of 
St.  Peter  in  the  little  provincial  city  of  Loudun; 
his  abilities  were  considerable,  but  his  character  was 


Relations  with  the  Church  265 

bad,  and  his  gallantries  involved  him  in  numerous 
unseemly  altercations.  His  enemies  sought  to  have 
him  deposed,  but  the  Archbishop  of  Bordeaux  was 
his  friend,  and  through  his  influence  Grandier  was 
at  last  acquitted  of  the  charges  against  him.  All 
this  made  him  a  well-known  character,  and  his  hand- 
some person,  as  well  as  his  evil  fame,  might  naturally 
excite  the  imagination  of  a  body  of  ignorant  nuns 
leading  an  idle  and  solitary  life.  At  all  events,  in 
1632,  the  inmates  of  the  Ursuline  Convent  at  Lou- 
dun  began  to  be  disturbed  by  alarming  and  persist- 
ent visitations;  nocturnal  apparitions  constantly 
appeared  to  some  of  the  nuns,  and  it  was  finally 
agreed  that  the  tempter  was  Grandier,  working  with 
the  aid  of  the  Evil  One.  Some  of  the  statements 
of  the  nuns  were  perhaps  devised  by  Grandier's 
enemies,  much,  doubtless,  was  the  result  of  hysteri- 
cal excitement,  assisted  by  ingenious  suggestion;  it 
is  hard  to  separate  the  delusion  from  the  fraud. 
Recourse  was  had  to  exorcism,  and  the  special  ser- 
vices adopted  by  the  Church  were  used  in  the 
endeavour  to  expel  the  demon.  They  were  at- 
tended with  small  success,  and  the  zealous  declared 
that  only  by  Grandier's  death  could  these  unhappy 
girls  be  relieved  from  his  unholy  practices.  The 
excitement  was  great  and  the  matter  was  discussed 
at  Paris  almost  as  much  as  at  Loudun.  The  Gov- 
ernment could  no  longer  disregard  it,  and  at  last  a 
special  court  of  magistrates  was  organised  to  try  the 
offender.  The  judges  listened  to  the  evidence  of 
the  nuns,  and  they  examined  the  priest  to  discover 
on  him  the  marks  of  the  Evil  One,  by  which  some 


266  Richelieu 

of  the  witnesses  had  identified  him.  The  medical 
profession  then,  as  now,  was  less  credulous  in  such 
matters,  but  several  physicians,  after  examining  the 
inmates  of  the  convent  and  hearing  their  tales,  de- 
clared that  they  found,  in  the  case  of  some  of 
the  nuns,  proofs  of  possession  by  the  Evil  One. 
The  Bishop  of  Poitiers  stated  that  in  his  opinion  the 
charge  of  magic  was  established,  the  doctors  of  the 
Sorbonne  were  consulted  and  reached  the  same 
conclusion.  The  utterances  of  such  authorities 
strengthened  the  agitation,  the  magistrates  decided 
that  Grandier  was  guilty  of  the  crime  of  magic,  and 
the  unfortunate  priest  was  burned  to  death  with  the 
approval  of  the  entire  community.  In  their  zeal, 
three  monks  undertook  the  duties  of  the  executioner 
and  kindled  the  flames  at  the  stake. 

It  is  interesting  to  consider  how  much  importance 
Richelieu  attached  to  all  this  gloomy  nonsense. 
No  one  would  have  questioned  it  two  or  three 
centuries  before,  but  there  were  many,  even  in 
France,  who  no  longer  believed  in  magical  arts,  or 
sought  to  discover  on  the  persons  of  unfortunate 
victims  the  signs  by  which  the  Devil  had  marked 
them  for  his  own.  Certainly  the  Cardinal  did 
nothing  to  save  Grandier,  but  he  might  have  thought 
that  the  victim  was  an  unworthy  and  licentious 
priest,  and  there  was  no  special  reason  for  being 
disturbed  about  his  fate.  In  some  of  his  letters  he 
speaks  rather  lightly  of  the  visions  of  the  Ursulines 
at  Loudun,  but  in  his  memoirs  he  discusses  the 
tragedy  seriously,  and  seems  to  regard  the  crime  as 
proved.  He  states  that  Grandier  when  executed 


Relations  with  the  Church  267 

did  not  cast  his  eyes  on  the  images  of  Christ  or  the 
Virgin,  and  refused  to  accept  the  crucifix  offered 
him  by  a  priest,  thus  showing  the  power  which  the 
Devil  exercises  over  those  who  have  voluntarily 
given  themselves  into  his  hands. 

In  his  theological  writings,  Richelieu  accepted 
the  common  beliefs  as  to  magic  and  the  direct  in- 
terposition of  the  Evil  One;  he  was  apparently  in 
full  harmony  with  the  doctrines  of  the  Church. 
These  doctrines  then  found  acceptance  among  the 
magistrates  almost  as  much  as  among  the  clergy. 
Many  of  the  French  parliaments,  and  among  them 
the  Parliament  of  Paris,  at  various  times  issued 
vigorous  decrees  against  the  damnable  crime  of 
magic.  Not  long  before  the  trial  of  Grandier,  two 
men,  of  whom  one  was  a  priest,  were  accused  of  at- 
tempting Richelieu's  life  by  the  use  of  charms  and 
magical  preparations.  The  Devil,  so  it  was  shown, 
had  often  appeared  to  them,  but  admitted  that  he 
could  accomplish  nothing  against  their  enemy,  be- 
cause God  kept  special  guard  over  him.  Though 
their  evil  devices  thus  redounded  to  the  Cardinal's 
glory,  the  court  convicted  the  accused  of  magic  and 
sentenced  them  to  be  burned. 

But  this  phase  of  belief  was  waning,  and  such 
prosecutions  became  rare  as  the  century  advanced. 
One  of  the  last  formal  protests  against  more  en- 
lightened views  came  from  the  judges  of  Rouen 
when,  in  1672,  Colbert  ordered  the  magistrates  to 
entertain  no  more  accusations  for  witchcraft.  The 
Parliament  of  Rouen  protested  that  such  indulgence 
was  contrary,  not  only  to  God's  law,  but  also  to  all 


268  Richelieu 

the  precedents  of  French  jurisprudence.  Down  to 
the  time  of  the  Revolution,  the  French  magistrates, 
as  a  class,  were  as  hostile  to  new  ideas,  either  in 
Church  or  State,  as  were  the  clergy,  and  perhaps  a 
little  more  so. 

Though  Richelieu  was  largely  absorbed  in  ques- 
tions of  worldly  policy,  he  always  remembered  that 
he  was  a  priest;  if  his  contests  with  Spain,  his  alli- 
ances with  Sweden  and  German  princes,  were  fore- 
most in  his  mind,  theological  controversy,  the 
condition  of  the  Church,  and  his  own  position  in  it 
were  by  no  means  forgotten.  We  have  alluded  to 
the  considerable  amount  of  theological  literature 
which  he  produced,  and  some  of  which  he  found 
time  to  indite  during  the  most  stormy  years  of  his 
career.  He  was  active  in  all  questions  of  Church 
government ;  he  sought  to  raise  the  standard  of  the 
clergy,  and  to  choose  fit  men  for  high  ecclesiastical 
positions. 

His  zeal  for  religion  did  not  secure  him  favour  at 
Rome,  and  from  force  of  circumstances,  rather  than 
from  choice,  Richelieu  became  active  in  asserting 
the  privileges  of  the  Gallican  Church.  The  over- 
throw of  the  Huguenot  party  and  the  capture  of  La 
Rochelle  entitled  the  Cardinal,  in  his  own  judgment, 
to  great  rewards,  and  he  was  displeased  at  the  in- 
difference with  which  the  Holy  Father  viewed  his 
services.  But  Richelieu  was  too  independent  and 
too  imperious  to  gain  the  good-will  of  the  Roman 
curia.  So  far  as  the  temporalities  of  the  Church 
were  concerned,  he  helped  himself  with  a  free  hand ; 
in  an  age  of  pluralists,  he  was  a  leviathan  among 


Relations  witk  the  Church  269 

such  offenders.  It  would  take  long  to  give  a  list  of 
the  various  livings  he  held,  with  the  most  of  which 
his  relations  were  confined  to  drawing  the  emolu- 
ments; his  income  from  them  all  amounted  to  the 
enormous  sum  of  a  million  and  a  half  yearly.  But 
in  the  Church  as  in  the  State  Richelieu,  while  he 
coveted  money,  coveted  power  more,  and  he  was 
less  successful  in  obtaining  ecclesiastical  offices  that 
would  increase  his  influence. 

He  took  an  active  interest  in  the  reformation  of 
monastic  life  in  France,  and  succeeded  in  having 
himself  elected  general  superior  of  the  monasteries 
of  Cluny,  Citeaux,  and  Premontre".  In  his  hands 
these  positions  would  not  have  been  sinecures,  and 
he  greatly  desired  to  fill  them,  but  the  Pope  was 
apprehensive  of  conferring  power  on  a  man  whose 
actions  he  could  not  control,  and  with  a  short- 
sighted jealousy  refused  the  bulls,  except  for  Cluny. 

The  prevalent  disorders  were  rife  at  Cluny,  and 
Richelieu  did  much  to  check  them  and  to  re-establish 
the  strict  rule  of  the  Order.  He  did  not  favour  an 
undue  growth  of  the  monastic  orders,  but  he  wished 
the  monasteries  to  be  seats  of  piety  and  learning  and 
not  of  indolence  and  vice.  The  great  awakening  in 
monastic  life,  which  exhibited  its  best  fruit  in  such 
institutions  as  the  Port  Royal  and  La  Trappe,  was 
due  to  deeper  causes  than  the  influence  of  any 
politician,  but  Richelieu  rendered  it  no  unimportant 
aid. 

"  When  I  consider,"  he  writes,  "  that  in  my  early 
years  the  license  was  so  great  in  monasteries  both  of  men 


2  7O  Richelieu 

and  women,  that  one  found  only  scandal  and  evil  ex- 
ample in  places  where  one  sought  for  edification,  I  con- 
fess that  I  receive  no  little  consolation  in  seeing  that 
irregularity  and  vice  are  now  rarer  in  such  places  than 
religious  zeal  was  then." 

The  seventeenth  century  is  the  greatest  era  in  the 
history  of  the  Gallican  Church.  After  the  excesses 
of  the  League  came  a  wholesome  reaction ;  the  Re- 
formation had  done  its  part  in  purifying  the  Church 
from  which  the  reformers  had  separated,  and  these 
results  were  nowhere  more  apparent  than  in  France. 
Doubtless  the  existence  of  a  strong  Huguenot  party 
had  its  influence  in  stimulating  the  zeal  of  Catholi- 
cism ;  the  Gallican  Church  was  saved  from  the  most 
serious  danger  to  which  a  religious  organisation 
can  be  exposed,  the  undisturbed  possession  of  the 
flock. 

There  are  many  great  names  among  those  who 
took  part  in  the  good  work,  and  the  period  was  one 
which  stimulated  their  activity;  they  were  found 
because  the  time  was  fit  for  them.  In  1611,  the 
Oratory  was  founded,  and  it  soon  became  a  great 
force  in  the  training  of  the  higher  clergy.  St. 
Francis  de  Sales  organised  charity  on  a  scale  of 
almost  unrivalled  magnitude,  and  found  followers 
in  abundance  to  carry  on  the  work  he  began.  The 
monasteries  were  purified  of  abuses;  not  only  were 
evil  livers  rooted  out,  but  there  was  no  longer  any 
room  for  the  indifferent  and  the  indolent.  The 
Cardinal's  place  in  Church  history  is  an  honourable 
one ;  he  did  much  toward  correcting  abuses  and  ele- 
vating the  character  of  the  clergy.  In  his  testament 


Relations  with  the  Church  271 

he  states  the  qualities  he  sought  in  those  he  chose 
for  bishops:  they  must  be  humble  and  charit- 
able, with  good  courage,  full  of  piety,  zealous  for 
the  Church  and  the  welfare  of  the  soul.  He  pre- 
ferred also  that  they  should  be  of  gentle  birth. 
Only  persons  of  rank,  he  said,  were  fitted  to  exer- 
cise the  authority  required  in  the  episcopal  office. 
Learned  men,  he  writes,  often  make  bad  bishops 
because,  from  their  low  extraction,  they  are  unfit 
to  govern  a  diocese.  At  all  events,  the  episcopate 
under  Richelieu  was  for  the  most  part  composed  of 
earnest  and  able  men.  There  were  few  of  them 
who  resembled  the  worldly  triflers  or  the  profligate 
infidels  who  filled  so  many  episcopal  seats  in  the 
reign  of  Louis  XV. 

In  the  course  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  Richelieu 
sought  an  ecclesiastical  office,  which  would  have 
been  more  important  than  the  generalship  of  any 
number  of  monasteries.  Treves  was  allied  with 
France,  and  the  archbishop  was  a  friend  of  the 
French.  The  Archbishop  of  Treves  was  one  of  the 
seven  electors  of  the  German  Empire,  and  the  office 
was  filled  by  the  promotion  of  the  coadjutor  at  the 
death  of  the  reigning  elector.  French  agents  began 
to  exert  themselves  to  procure  Richelieu's  election 
as  coadjutor,  and  thus  secure  his  succession  to  the 
electorate.  If  their  plan  could  be  carried  out,  the 
French  prime  minister  might  become  a  German 
prince,  he  would  control  the  fortunes  of  an  import- 
ant German  electorate,  and  be  entitled  to  cast  his 
vote  in  the  choice  of  an  emperor  of  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire.  Such  a  scheme  was  as  novel  as  it  was 


272  Richelieu 

bold,  but  Richelieu  never  hesitated  in  disregarding 
ancient  political  traditions.  The  reigning  elector 
was  favourable,  or,  if  not,  he  dared  make  no  oppo- 
sition ;  the  members  of  the  chapter  were  reluctant, 
but  it  would  have  been  strange  if  French  influence, 
aided  by  French  money,  could  not  have  procured 
their  votes. 

But  here  again  Richelieu  encountered  the  stub- 
born resistance  of  the  Pope.  His  opponents  de- 
clared that  it  would  be  monstrous  if  a  French 
minister  became  the  ruler  of  a  German  electorate; 
the  partisans  of  established  usages  were  shocked  by 
the  idea;  it  is  not  probable  that  even  friendly  Ger- 
man princes  viewed  with  satisfaction  the  prospect 
of  the  wily  Cardinal,  backed  by  the  power  of 
France,  becoming  one  of  their  number.  At  all 
events,  these  arguments  were  convincing  with  the 
Pope;  he  declared  that  by  the  rules  of  the  Church 
the  electorate  could  only  be  held  by  a  German, 
that  the  election  of  Richelieu  would  be  irregular 
and  could  not  receive  .the  papal  sanction.  Napo- 
leon would  not  have  been  disturbed  by  the  threat 
of  papal  fulminations,  but  Richelieu  was  a  priest 
and  a  cardinal.  He  was  not  ready  to  defy  the 
orders  of  the  Pope,  or  to  assume  a  position  which 
could  only  result  in  his  own  excommunication;  he 
acquiesced  in  the  papal  decree  and  abandoned  his 
hopes  of  becoming  a  German  prince. 

Rumour  constantly  declared  that  the  Cardinal, 
weary  of  these  bickerings  with  Rome,  considered 
the  possibility  of  an  open  rupture,  and  that  he 
cherished  the  dream  of  becoming  the  patriarch  of 


Relations  with  the  Church  273 

an  independent  Gallican  Church.  It  is  certain  that 
he  wished  to  be  made  perpetual  legate  of  the  papacy 
in  France,  and  was  bitterly  disappointed  when  his 
desire  was  not  gratified.  After  the  surrender  of 
La  Rochelle,  the  victorious  Cardinal  might  naturally 
have  expected  this  honour.  Cardinal  Wolsey  had 
been  papal  legate  in  England,  Cardinal  George  of 
Amboise  had  been  papal  legate  in  France;  Richelieu 
exercised  a  power  equal  to  that  of  either  of  these 
statesmen,  his  services  to  the  Church  had  been  no 
less,  and  he  was  entitled  to  no  less  reward.  In 
1629,  he  made  a  solemn  entry  into  Montauban, 
after  his  victories  in  Italy  and  Southern  France,  and 
among  the  devices  which  ornamented  triumphal 
arches,  the  cross  of  a  legate  was  seen,  combined 
with  the  crown  of  a  duke.  The  designs  had  been 
prepared  by  a  follower,  and  it  is  not  likely  that 
he  suggested  future  honours  without  the  approval 
of  him  for  whom  they  were  intended.  But  the 
Holy  Father  never  saw  fit  to  entrust  Richelieu 
with  the  authority  of  papal  legate,  which  in  his 
hands  might  be  exercised  with  little  regard  for  the 
papal  will ;  the  Cardinal  duke  did  not  bear  the 
legate's  cross. 

Richelieu  could  have  become  papal  legate  and 
remained  an  obedient  Catholic,  but  the  position  of 
patriarch  he  must  have  assumed  in  defiance  of  the 
papacy.  '  Every  one,"  writes  Grotius  from  Paris 
in  1638,  "  gives  the  fair  dignity  of  patriarch  to  the 
prime  minister."  At  times,  Richelieu  may  have 
listened  with  complacency  to  rumours  which  de- 
clared that  he  would  rule  a  Church  acknowledging 


274  Richelieu 

no  allegiance  to  the  bishops  of  Rome.  But  he 
never  forgot  that  he  must  limit  his  ambition,  and 
his  boldness  was  tempered  by  a  clear  judgment  of 
what  was  feasible.  It  is  not  likely  that  he  ever 
seriously  contemplated  a  step  that  was  sure  to  end 
in  failure.  It  was  impossible  that  a  pope  would 
willingly  consent  to  the  creation  of  a  patriarchate 
in  France ;  it  was  most  unlikely  that  a  pope  could 
be  forced  to  consent.  The  assumption  of  such  a 
dignity,  at  the  request  of  the  Gallican  Church, 
would  have  been  revolt  from  Rome,  and  whatever 
were  the  Cardinal's  own  grievances,  there  was  no 
popular  discontent  with  the  papacy;  no  body  of 
active  proselytes,  aroused  to  action  by  religious 
abuses,  would  have  assisted  an  effort  to  repudiate 
the  papal  authority.  If  Richelieu  had  seriously 
advocated  such  a  measure,  not  even  his  power  could 
have  secured  its  succcess. 

Discontented  at  the  treatment  he  received  at 
Rome,  and  active  in  defence  of  the  rights  of  the 
Gallican  Church,  the  Cardinal's  relations  with  the 
papacy  were  rarely  cordial  and  were  often  acrimoni- 
ous. At  times  it  seemed  as  if  these  quarrels  might 
almost  drift  into  actual  schism.  The  Pope  long  re- 
fused to  grant  bulls  to  a  large  number  of  bishops 
appointed  by  the  King.  The  situation  grew  steadily 
worse,  the  nominees  were  forbidden  to  yield  to  the 
demands  for  money  which  came  from  Rome,  and 
the  Cardinal  threatened  that  if  papal  confirmation 
were  much  longer  delayed,  the  incumbents  would 
dispense  with  it  altogether.  But  Urban  VIII.  had 
no  desire  to  let  this  quarrel  go  too  far;  he  knew 


Relations  with  the  Church  275 

that  Richelieu  would  not  hesitate  to  execute  his 
threats,  and  though  the  bulls  were  granted  re- 
luctantly, they  came  at  last. 

While  the  Cardinal  was  resolute  in  asserting  the 
rights  of  the  Gallican  Church  against  the  papacy, 
he  was  equally  firm  in  asserting  the  rights  of  the 
State  against  the  Gallican  Church,  and,  in  the 
latter  years  of  his  administration,  he  was  involved 
in  difficulties  with  the  French  clergy,  as  well  as 
with  the  Pope.  The  controversy  with  the  clergy 
was  the  familiar  quarrel  over  their  contributions  to 
the  State.  The  needs  of  the  King  were  great,  the 
Cardinal  demanded  liberal  aid  from  the  Church  and 
threatened  rigorous  measures  if  it  were  refused. 

Earlier  in  his  career,  he  had  advocated  with  zeal 
the  immunities  of  his  order.  '  The  tribute  which 
should  be  exacted  from  the  clergy,"  he  said  before 
the  States-General,  "  is  prayer,  and  many  believe 
that  their  tears  and  supplications  are  more  effica- 
cious than  the  money  of  the  people  or  the  arms  of 
the  nobles."  His  experience  as  a  statesman  had 
somewhat  shaken  his  confidence  in  the  efficacy  of 
the  Church's  prayers,  and  he  now  demanded  its 
money.  Taxation  is  disagreeable  to  all  and  has 
been  especially  distasteful  to  the  clergy ;  they  de- 
nied the  right  of  Caesar  to  demand  tribute  from 
God,  and  while  their  exemption  was  always  pur- 
chased by  what  was  very  inaccurately  called  a  free- 
will offering,  they  were  loath  to  grant  the  amount 
that  the  Cardinal  demanded.  The  struggle  ended, 
like  similar  struggles  during  all  the  centuries  of 
French  history,  with  the  advantage  on  the  side  of 


2  76  Richelieu 

the  Church.  A  few  millions  were  voted,  and  the 
minister  accepted  them  rather  than  continue  a  con- 
test with  such  resolute  opponents. 

Richelieu  sympathised  with  many  phases  of  re- 
ligious development,  yet  at  times  he  figured  as  a 
persecutor  of  men  who  were  doing  valuable  service, 
and  such  conduct  reflects  no  honour  on  his  career. 
If  he  sympathised  with  religious  development  when 
it  proceeded  in  accordance  with  religious  authority, 
he  was  impatient  of  bolder  intellects,  who  recognised 
no  authority  but  conscience.  Therefore  it  was,  that 
he  viewed  with  ill-will  those  identified  with  the 
party  of  Jansenius,  and  treated  with  special  harsh- 
ness one  of  the  first  of  the  great  men  who  made  the 
name  of  the  Port  Royal  illustrious. 

The  doctrines  of  Jansenism  had  not  yet  taken 
form  in  the  famous  Augustinus,  but  Jansenius  was 
already  a  marked  figure,  and  his  severe  doctrines 
attracted  the  early  disciples  of  the  Port  Royal. 
He  was  a  deep  student,  indifferent  to  the  world, 
fitted  by  nature  to  wage  theological  warfare,  keen 
in  his  intellect  and  intense  in  his  beliefs;  night  and 
day,  he  said,  he  sought  and  prayed  to  find  the  one 
thing  most  to  be  desired — the  truth.  He  likened 
himself  to  an  exploding  bomb,  and  such  he  proved 
to  be  in  theology.  His  portrait  reveals  his  charac- 
ter: the  aquiline  nose  and  square  chin  of  a  soldier, 
the  meagre,  bony  face  of  a  student,  with  a  fierce 
moustache,  which  was  not  then  thought  unbecoming 
in  a  priest. 

Richelieu  had  personal  as  well  as  theological 
grievances  against  Jansenius.  In  1635,  Jansenius 


Relations  with  the  Church  277 

published  the  Mars  Gallicus,  one  of  the  most  bitter 
of  the  innumerable  libels  of  which  the  Cardinal  was 
the  object.  It  made  a  strong  impression  on  Riche- 
lieu, and  in  the  memoirs  which  he  indited  long  after- 
ward, he  took  the  trouble  to  refute  the  charges 
it  contained.  As  a  reward  for  his  services  as  a 
pamphleteer,  so  it  is  said,  Jansenius  received  from 
the  Spanish  Government  the  bishopric  of  Ypres. 

The  Abbe  of  St.  Cyran  had  been  one  of  the  early 
friends  of  Jansenius,  and  they  were  bound  together 
by  similar  beliefs  and  purposes.  But  St.  Cyran  had 
also  been  among  those  who  assisted  Richelieu  in  his 
advancement;  he  was  attracted  by  the  talents  of 
the  Bishop  of  Lugon,  and  believed  him  to  be  a  man 
fitted  to  do  great  work  for  Church  and  State. 
Richelieu  appreciated  the  strong  intellect  and  vigor- 
ous character  which  made  St.  Cyran  a  leader  of 
men,  and,  when  he  had  attained  to  power,  he 
sought  to  enlist  the  abb£  among  his  followers.  But 
the  abb£  was  as  impatient  of  control  as  the  states- 
man ;  he  did  not  hanker  for  worldly  honours,  and 
he  was  resolved  to  preserve  for  himself  absolute  in- 
dependence of  thought  and  action.  '  I  chose  a 
prison  rather  than  a  bishopric,"  he  said,  "  for  I 
knew  the  refusal  of  one  would  lead  to  the  other, 
under  a  government  that  desired  to  be  served  only 
by  slaves." 

He  was  offered  various  livings;  what  was  more 
tempting  to  such  a  man,  on  several  occasions  Riche- 
lieu expressed  his  willingness  to  promote  him  to  the 
episcopate.  He  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  all  these  pro- 
spects of  advancement,  and  his  refusal  to  accept 


278  Richelieu 

Richelieu's  bounty  irritated  the  Cardinal  quite  as 
much  as  any  errors  in  his  doctrines.  He  disliked 
a  man  whom  he  could  not  buy,  and  distrusted  a 
man  who  in  intellect  yielded  to  no  one  in  France, 
and  in  courage  to  no  one  in  the  world. 

Moreover,  the  minister  was  not  above  the  petty 
animosities  of  the  theologian.  '  He  was  a  great 
man,"  said  Retz,  "  but  he  had  the  fault  of  not  de- 
spising small  things."  In  his  own  works  Richelieu 
had  defined  the  subtle  doctrine  of  contrition  as 
required  in  the  confessional.  Jansenius  and  St. 
Cyran  held  other  views,  and  their  advocacy  of  them 
was  displeasing  to  Richelieu's  pride  in  his  theology. 
It  was  said  that  the  Cardinal  thought  it  necessary 
to  support  his  own  doctrines  in  order  to  secure  the 
peace  of  mind  of  Louis  XIII.  The  King  declared 
that  he  regretted  his  sins  when  he  sought  absolu- 
tion, but  he  acknowledged  that  his  spiritual  nature 
did  not  allow  that  intense  grief  for  having  forfeited 
God's  love  by  evil  actions,  which  the  Jansenists 
thought  necessary  for  forgiveness.  '  Louis  did  not 
love  God,"  said  a  satirist,  "  but  he  greatly  feared 
the  Devil."  The  Cardinal  felt  that  Louis  must  not 
be  kept  in  a  state  of  uncertainty  and  apprehension 
by  any  fine-spun  theories  of  ill-advised  theologians. 
At  any  rate,  the  first  overt  act  in  the  long  contro- 
versy with  Jansenism  was  taken  by  Richelieu,  and 
in  1638  St.  Cyran  was  sent  to  Vincehnes. 

"  I  have  done  something  to-day,"  said  the  Cardinal 
to  a  follower,  "  for  which  many  will  reproach  me.  I 
have  ordered  the  arrest  of  the  Abbe  of  St.  Cyran.  The 


Relations  with  the  Chitrch  279 

savants  and  the  godly  will  make  much  ado,  but  I  have 
the  consciousness  of  having  rendered  service  to  the 
Church  and  the  State.  Many  troubles  and  misfortunes 
would  have  been  avoided  if  they  had  ordered  the  arrest 
of  Luther  and  Calvin  when  they  began  to  dogmatise." 

It  is  unlikely  that  Richelieu  really  thought  the  Re- 
formation would  have  been  checked  if  Luther  had 
been  kept  in  jail,  or  that  he  expected  to  crush  out 
Jansenism  by  holding  St.  Cyran  a  prisoner  in  the 
gloomy  donjon  of  Vincennes,  but  he  would  not 
consent  to  his  release.  "  Do  you  know  of  whom 
you  speak  ? "  he  said  to  the  Prince  of  Cond6,  who 
asked  his  pardon;  "he  is  more  dangerous  than  six 
armies."  In  Vincennes  St.  Cyran  remained  for 
almost  five  years,  and  his  long  confinement  is  a 
blot  on  the  Cardinal's  memory. 

The  abb6  was  widely  known  for  the  religious 
elevation  of  his  character  and  for  his  unworldly 
piety.  In  1641,  Jean  de  Wert,  the  famous  free- 
booter, was  a  prisoner  at  Paris.  He  witnessed  the 
performance  of  Mirame  at  the  Palais  Cardinal,  and 
many  bishops  also  watched  the  splendid  rendering 
of  a  play  which  gossip  declared  to  be'  the  Cardi- 
nal's own  handiwork.  When  the  prisoner  was  asked 
for  his  judgment  he  praised  the  performance,  but  he 
added  that  it  seemed  strange  to  him,  in  a  Christian 
kingdom,  to  find  the  bishops  at  the  comedy  and  the 
saints  in  prison. 

St.  Cyran  was  liberated  after  Richelieu's  death. 
His  followers  of  the  Port  Royal  noticed  with  pious 
joy  that  the  service  for  the  day  on  which  the  Cardi- 
nal died  contained  these  words,  "  The  fear  of  the 


280  Richelieu 

Lord  prolongeth  days,  but  the  years  of  the  wicked 
shall  be  shortened." 

Though  Richelieu  sought  to  purify  the  Church 
from  abuses,  his  own  conduct  was  not  always  free 
from  reproach.  We  have  spoken  of  the  great  num- 
ber of  benefices  which  he  held.  In  this  there  was 
indeed  nothing  that  was  then  regarded  as  scandal- 
ous; there  were  few  able  to  accumulate  livings  and 
benefices,  who  hesitated  to  do  so  to  the  fullest  ex- 
tent. Richelieu  was  a  good  churchman,  but  to 
derive  wealth  and  power  from  the  organisation  to 
which  he  belonged  was  in  full  accordance  with  his 
views;  he  regarded  apostolic  poverty  as  out  of  place 
in  the  seventeenth  century  at  the  Court  of  Louis 
XIII. 

Though  not  in  advance  of  the  ordinary  morality 
of  his  time,  he  was  not  a  man  to  outrage  public 
sentiment  by  a  scandalous  bargain,  and  the  manner 
in  which  he  disposed  of  his  bishopric  is  interesting 
because  it  indicates  no  special  moral  obliquity  in 
him,  it  only  illustrates  practices  that  were  regarded 
as  fitting  by  those  who  claimed  for  themselves  en- 
tire propriety  of  conduct.  After  he  received  his 
promotion  to  the  cardinalate,  he  no  longer  cared  to 
hold  his  bishopric.  But  the  office  represented  a 
certain  income,  it  had  a  commercial  value,  and  the 
Cardinal  no  more  thought  of  giving  this  away,  ex- 
cept for  a  proper  return,  than  of  disposing  of  any 
other  portion  of  his  estate  without  being  paid  for  it. 
The  bargain  for  the  sale  of  the  bishopric  was  reduced 
to  writing  and  preserved  among  his  papers.  Mani- 
festly there  was  no  more  feeling  of  impropriety  than 


Relations  with  the  Church  281 

if  he  had  agreed  to  sell  a  right  of  grazing,  or  a  piece 
of  pasture  land.  The  bishopric  was  transferred  to 
the  Dean  of  St.  Martin  of  Tours,  who  was  probably 
a  fit  man  for  the  position,  but  he  paid  for  it  its  full 
value.  The  deanery  of  St.  Martin  and  the  abbey  of 
St.  Vast  were  to  be  given  to  Richelieu  in  exchange 
for  the  see  of  Lu$on,  and  he  was  also  to  receive  five 
thousand  livres  a  year  secured  on  the  revenues  of 
that  bishopric.  The  abbey  and  deanery  were  worth 
seventy-three  hundred  livres  a  year  as  was  stated, 
and  the  seller  covenanted,  as  he  would  in  a  warranty 
deed  of  land,  that  they  should  be  conveyed  free  of 
any  charge  or  encumbrance.  Ecclesiastical  offices 
could  not  be  actually  disposed  of  by  the  incumbents, 
and  it  was  therefore  provided  that  the  approval  of 
the  King  and  the  Pope  should  be  obtained,  accept- 
ing the  respective  resignations,  and  making  the 
nominations  as  agreed.  Evidently  neither  Cardinal 
nor  dean  felt  that  there  was  any  impropriety  in 
bargaining  for  a  sale  of  the  bishopric.  The  dean 
believed  that  he  was  a  proper  man  to  be  a  bishop, 
and  Richelieu  thought  so  also.  The  Cardinal  would 
not  have  made  the  trade  with  a  man  whom  he 
thought  unfit  for  the  position,  but,  when  his  con- 
science was  at  rest  in  this  respect,  he  got  what  he 
could  out  of  the  transfer  of  the  dignity.  Consider- 
ing the  complaints  he  often  made  of  the  poverty  of 
his  beggarly  bishopric,  he  seems  to  have  had  some- 
what the  best  of  the  deal.  Probably  the  new  bishop 
did  not  care  to  drive  too  hard  a  bargain  with  a 
Cardinal  and  an  influential  politician. 

In  another  measure  of  his  we  find  an  illustration 


282  Richelieu 

of  the  religious  sentiment  of  the  time,  and  we  see 
that  Richelieu  was  not  quick  to  be  disturbed  where 
others  saw  no  evil.  When  the  Pope  was  ill  in  1637, 
Richelieu  sent  one  hundred  thousand  livres  to  Rome 
to  be  distributed  among  the  cardinals,  as  he  says, 
"  in  order  to  acquire  them  for  the  King  " — in  other 
words,  to  buy  their  votes.  There  was  nothing  con- 
cealed, he  has  related  the  fact  in  his  memoirs  for  the 
instruction  of  posterity.  He  would  not  have  sold 
his  own  vote  as  a  cardinal,  but  he  saw  no  harm  in 
buying  the  votes  of  others.  If  bribery  is  not  un- 
known in  the  election  of  aldermen,  it  is  pleasant  to 
reflect  that  it  is  no  longer  a  recognised  institution 
in  the  election  of  popes. 

An  account  of  Richelieu's  relations  with  the 
Church  would  be  incomplete  without  some  sketch 
of  the  Capuchin  monk  whose  name  is  so  identified 
with  his  career  in  his  lifetime  and  with  his  fame 
among  posterity.  Around  the  character  and  career 
of  Father  Joseph  there  has  always  been  an  air  of 
mystery,  a  flavour  of  romance;  in  this  subtle  and 
indefatigable  monk  some  have  imagined  the  inspirer 
of  Richelieu's  policy,  the  power  behind  the  throne. 
But  the  Cardinal  found  inspiration  in  his  own  genius, 
he  was  a  man  of  greater  intellect  than  Father  Joseph, 
and  it  was  he  who  determined  the  policy  which  the 
monk  was  always  ready  to  carry  into  execution. 

The  man  who  became  famous  as  Father  Joseph 
belonged  to  the  ancient  parliamentary  family  of 
LeClerc,  who  added  the  name  du  Tremblay  from 
a  domain  that  had  belonged  to  them  since  the 
fifteenth  century.  The  chateau  of  Tremblay  yet 


Relations  with  the  Church  283 

stands,  surrounded  by  an  extensive  park  and  a 
pleasant  country,  and  though  much  changed  and 
little  improved,  it  is  still  an  interesting  example  of 
seventeenth-century  architecture.  Francois  LeClerc 
du  Tremblay  was  born  in  1577  and  was  eight  years 
older  than  the  statesman  of  whom  he  became  so 
devoted  a  follower.  He  pursued  the  usual  course 
of  studies  for  a  young  man  of  the  period,  finishing 
his  education  at  the  University  of  Paris.  In  the 
confusion  created  by  the  wars  of  religion,  the  univers- 
ity had  sunk  to  a  low  ebb,  yet  the  young  Le  Clerc, 
when  he  completed  his  course  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen, was  not  only  thoroughly  grounded  in  Greek 
and  Latin,  but  he  had  acquirements  still  more  use- 
ful in  his  career  as  a  diplomat,  for  he  spoke  and 
wrote  Spanish  and  Italian  with  ease  and  correctness. 
These  studies  were  supplemented  by  the  course  at 
an  academy,  that  was  an  indispensable  part  of  a 
gentleman's  education,  and  the  future  monk  ac- 
quired proficiency  in  horsemanship,  fencing,  danc- 
ing, and  military  drill.  A  tour  in  Italy,  for  those 
whose  means  allowed  such  a  luxury,  was  regarded 
as  a  sort  of  finishing  school,  and  there  LeClerc  per- 
fected himself  in  Italian  and  studied  the  traditions 
of  diplomacy  among  those  who  were  esteemed  the 
most  perfect  masters  of  the  art. 

On  his  return  he  joined  the  Court  of  Henry  IV., 
taking  the  title  of  Baron  of  Maffliers  from  one  of  the 
family  estates,  and,  when  twenty,  he  served  with 
credit  at  the  siege  of  Amiens.  But  the  youth  had 
a  strong  tendency  towards  a  religious  life;  the  call- 
ing of  a  priest,  which  Richelieu  drifted  into  by 


284  Richelieu 

accident,  his  follower  espoused  from  natural  inclina- 
tion. He  willingly  relinquished  a  life  of  pleasure,  and, 
enrolling  himself  in  the  Order  of  St.  Francis,  chose 
the  rigorous  discipline  and  ascetic  poverty  of  the 
Capuchins.  In  his  twenty-second  year  he  took  the 
vows  of  the  Order  and  became  known  as  Father 
Joseph.  He  entered  upon  his  calling  with  the 
enthusiasm  of  his  nature.  By  its  privations  he  was 
undisturbed.  '  When  it  is  cold,"  he  wrote  his 
mother,  "  we  warm  ourselves  by  prayer.  Our  life 
is  that  of  a  soldier,  but  while  some  soldiers  meet 
death  in  the  service  of  man,  we  hope  for  life  in  the 
service  of  God."  With  his  intense  religious  con- 
victions was  mingled  some  trace  of  mysticism,  per- 
haps we  may  say  of  superstition.  The  man  who 
later  was  the  exponent  of  Richelieu's  policy,  even 
when  it  angered  the  Pope  and  alienated  good 
Catholics,  began  his  career  by  enterprises  which  en- 
deared him  to  believers,  but  seemed  foolishness  to 
the  worldly  minded.  Father  Joseph  combined,  in 
curious  mixture,  intellectual  qualities  that  seem  far 
removed ;  he  could  have  been  an  assistant  of  Peter 
the  Hermit,  and  a  follower  of  Godfrey  de  Bouillon, 
or  he  could  have  discussed  political  schemes  with 
the  most  worldly  and  least  believing  of  eighteenth- 
century  prelates,  and  they  would  have  found  in 
him  an  adroit  coadjutor.  He  was  an  astute  and  not 
altogether  a  scrupulous  diplomat,  doubled  by  a 
hedge  priest.  He  could  have  met  Metternich  and 
Macchiavelli  on  their  own  field,  yet  there  was  in  this 
trained  politician  an  element  of  the  country  cur£ 
who  retails  wonders  to  the  village  gossips,  of  the 


l>-j\c  ytijic  Ju  1<  P  L-fcrfi   J,-  .  ^_^ 
Jc  Tfuraiiif'fufenfHr  Jcf  mifficns   fifrjyftrs  et  Jf  Psi 
Jt-s  Jfr/liftcu/fs  JL-  Cii/nairc  ,1  rtnJu  Jcjpnt  cntre  Iff  mjins 
Jiipcneurs  /•  /»  Jacmr- 


FATHER    JOSEPH. 

FROM    THE    ENGRAVING   BY   MICHEL    LA8NE. 

Reproduced  from  Fagniez's  "  Le  Pere  Joseph  et  Richelieu. 


Relations  with  the  Church  285 

zealous  fanatic  who  centuries  before  followed  the 
motley  forces  of  Walter  the  Penniless  on  their  march 
to  the  Holy  Land. 

His  zeal  was  early  shown  in  the  organisation  of 
the  convent  of  the  Calvary,  and  in  this  he  took  a 
never-failing  interest.  However  much  occupied  in 
framing  instructions  for  ambassadors,  or  scheming 
with  Richelieu  for  the  abasement  of  the  House  of 
Austria,  he  always  found  time  for  the  care  and  in- 
struction of  the  nuns,  whose  director  he  was  during 
life. 

The  number  of  those  who  sought  retreat  from  the 
world  was  never  larger  in  France  than  in  the  early 
part  of  the  seventeenth  century ;  eighty  thousand 
women,  it  is  said,  were  connected  with  religious 
establishments.  Many  doubtless  were  sincerely  in- 
clined to  their  calling,  but  the  condition  of  the  times 
helped  to  fill  convents  and  monasteries.  While 
some  chose  a  religious  life  from  piety,  others  were 
driven  by  necessity;  in  an  era  of  civil  war  and  politi- 
cal confusion,  parents  looked  with  favour  upon  a 
retreat  where  their  children  would  be  in  safety;  the 
superfluous  daughters  of  noble  families,  for  whom 
suitable  matches  could  not  be  found  and  suitable 
dowries  could  not  be  provided,  became  the  brides 
of  the  Church.  Naturally  there  was  much  lowering 
of  discipline  in  many  religious  institutions;  the 
members  were  indeed  excluded  from  worldly  pleas- 
ures, but  the  rigorous  rules  of  the  Order  were  sadly 
relaxed;  the  sisters  read  novels,  strolled  in  the 
conventual  gardens,  gossiped,  lounged  much,  and 
prayed  little. 


286  Richelieu 

This  condition  of  affairs  presently  improved. 
After  the  excesses  of  the  League  and  the  disorders 
and  scepticism  of  the  sixteenth  century  came  a 
season  of  awakening  in  the  Gallican  Church;  the 
Oratory  was  founded,  the  character  of  the  episco- 
pate was  elevated,  the  great  preachers  of  Louis 
XIV.  received  their  early  training.  At  such  a  time 
new  life  was  instilled  into  many  monastic  institu- 
tions, and  laxity  and  indifference  were  succeeded  by 
rigour  and  zeal.  The  spirit  of  reformation  was  felt 
in  many  of  the  religious  retreats  for  women.  The 
Port  Royal,  while  the  most  famous,  was  only  one 
among  similar  institutions  in  which  fervent  piety 
and  rigorous  discipline  could  be  found. 

There  was  hardly  a  noble  family  that  had  not  some 
member  consecrated  to  religion,  and  among  them 
was  Antoinette  of  Orleans,  a  princess  of  the  blood 
royal,  and  already  selected  as  successor  to  the 
aunt  of  Louis  XIII.,  who  was  then  the  Abbess  of 
Fontrevault.  But  Antoinette  was  rigorous  in  her 
practices,  and  the  discipline  of  Fontrevault  was 
much  relaxed.  The  inmates  did  not  want  an  abbess 
who  was  as  illustrious  for  her  austerities  as  for  her 
birth,  while  she  desired  to  found  an  institution  that 
should  become  the  home  of  those  filled  with  her 
own  zeal.  Chance  threw  in  her  way  Father  Joseph, 
who  was  still  an  obscure  Capuchin.  The  exalted 
piety  of  the  princess  found  a  response  in  the  monk, 
and  by  their  joint  efforts  the  congregation  of  the 
Calvary  was  founded ;  the  sanction  of  the  Pope  was 
obtained,  the  favour  of  royalty  was  secured,  and  the 
home  of  the  congregation  was  at  last  established 


Relations  with  the  Church  287 

by  Mary  de'  Medici  in  the  garden  of  the  Luxem- 
bourg. 

The  exhortations  of  Father  Joseph  to  the  sisters, 
and  his  plans  for  their  devotions,  throw  an  interest- 
ing light  upon  his  religious  character.  He  marked 
out  for  them  the  themes  in  which  their  thoughts 
should  each  day  be  absorbed ;  thus  the  week  would 
go  its  round  in  religious  contemplation.  Certain 
virtues  were  especially  to  be  cultivated  by  the  in- 
mates, silence,  humility,  charity,  seclusion,  and 
prayer,  and  the  merits  acquired  by  their  pains  and 
prayers  were  to  be  devoted  to  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen  and  the  deliverance  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 

A  man  like  Richelieu,  eminently  practical  and 
more  worldly  than  devout,  could  have  taken  but 
little  interest  in  much  of  this.  Yet,  either  from 
conviction  or  from  a  desire  to  please  his  follower, 
he  was  a  fast  friend  of  the  Calvarians,  and  con- 
tributed liberally  towards  the  construction  of  their 
buildings.  To  Father  Joseph  their  intense  devo- 
tion, their  unquestioning  faith,  were  congenial;  his 
last  public  effort,  when  the  hand  of  death  was  upon 
him,  was  an  address  to  the  sisters  of  the  Calvary, 
and  his  tongue  was  not  stayed  by  weakness,  for  he 
talked  to  them  two  hours  and  a  half. 

A  project  of  larger  importance  than  the  reforma- 
tion of  a  convent  excited  Father  Joseph's  ardour. 
It  seems  strange  that  the  dream  of  a  war  for  the 
redemption  of  the  Holy  Places  should  have  possessed 
the  mind  of  a  highly  educated  Frenchman  in  the 
seventeenth  century;  that  one  of  the  most  astute 
diplomats  in  Europe  should  have  thought  it  possible 


288  Richelieu 

to  unite  warring  nations  in  a  crusade  that  would 
have  for  its  object  only  God's  glory.  More  than 
five  hundred  years  had  passed  since  Peter  the  Her- 
mit preached  before  the  council  at  Clermont,  and 
even  the  pretence  of  assuming  the  cross  had  long 
been  abandoned ;  kings  had  ceased  to  promise  it, 
popes  had  ceased  to  demand  it.  But  Father 
Joseph  again  undertook  the  enterprise  in  all  sincer- 
ity, and  he  possessed  such  a  combination  of  zeal 
and  enthusiasm  that  even  his  knowledge  of  Euro- 
pean rulers  and  politics  did  not  make  him  despair  of 
success.  It  was  by  his  efforts  to  unite  Christian 
nations  against  the  Turk  that  he  first  made  himself 
known  in  the  world  of  politics  and  diplomacy. 

An  impulse  to  such  a  movement  was  given  by  an 
appeal,  to  which,  two  centuries  later,  Europe  did  not 
turn  a  deaf  ear.  A  deputation  of  five  Greek  bishops 
came  in  behalf  of  their  compatriots,  and  besought 
the  aid  of  the  Western  powers  in  overthrowing 
Turkish  tyranny  and  restoring  liberty  to  Greece. 

Both  national  and  social  sympathies  were  little 
developed  in  the  seventeenth  century;  privileged 
classes  viewed  with  small  concern  the  sufferings  of 
those  removed  from  them  socially  ;  white  men 
looked  with  approval  on  the  trade  in  black  men ; 
the  residents  of  London  or  Paris  would  have  been 
undisturbed  by  reports  of  atrocities  committed  in 
Bulgaria  or  Armenia,  and  there  was  no  likelihood 
of  the  European  powers  taking  up  arms  in  an  un- 
selfish endeavour  to  assist  a  downtrodden  national- 
ity; the  religious  fervour  of  the  eleventh  century 
had  passed  away,  the  active  philanthropy  of  the 


Relations  with  the  CJmrch  289 

nineteenth  century  was  unknown.  But  Father  Jo- 
seph espoused  the  cause  of  Greek  liberation  as 
part  of  a  scheme  to  drive  the  infidel,  not  only  from 
Greece,  but  also  from  Palestine.  A  leader  was 
found  in  the  Duke  of  Nevers,  a  French  nobleman, 
who  presently  inherited  an  Italian  principality. 
Not  only  an  ardent  Catholic  but  a  descendant  of 
the  Paleologi,  the  duke  could  assert  ancestral  claims 
to  the  throne  of  Constantinople,  as  well  as  gratify 
the  spirit  of  adventure  and  obey  the  call  of  religion. 
The  Order  of  Christian  Militia  was  organised,  whose 
mission  it  was  to  drive  the  Turk  from  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  and  Mary  de'  Medici  headed  a  subscrip- 
tion for  its  benefit  with  a  million  two  hundred  thou- 
sand livres.  But  all  this  availed  little,  and  for  any 
chance  of  success  it  was  necessary  to  obtain  the 
support  of  some  of  the  great  powers. 

In  1617,  Father  Joseph  went  to  Rome  to  solicit 
the  sanction  of  the  Holy  Father  for  the  undertak- 
ing. He  made  the  journey  in  conformity  with  the 
rules  of  his  Order;  each  day  he  walked  as  far  as 
the  wretched  roads  would  allow,  subsisting  on  the 
charity  which  the  pious  extended  to  one  who  had 
renounced  earthly  goods.  After  many  toils  and 
privations,  he  at  last  reached  Rome,  and  Pius  V., 
who  was  then  Pope,  could  not  refuse  the  aid  of  the 
Church  to  an  undertaking  which,  for  centuries,  the 
papacy  had  declared  to  be  incumbent  on  Christian- 
ity. However  doubtful  of  success,  he  instructed 
his  nuncios  to  present  the  matter  to  the  European 
powers  and  ask  for  their  assistance. 

In  Spain,  where  Father  Joseph  went  the  following 


290  Richelieu 

year,  he  found  less  encouragement.  The  Spaniards 
were  pious,  but  their  rulers  had  no  time  to  spare 
from  European  politics  for  the  affairs  of  Palestine; 
the  enterprise  was  as  impracticable  as  it  was  praise- 
worthy, said  the  nuncio  at  Madrid.  Nor  was 
France  any  more  zealous.  The  French  had  im- 
portant commercial  dealings  with  the  East,  they 
were  a  favoured  nation  at  Constantinople,  their  re- 
lations with  the  Porte  were  amicable.  The  Queen- 
mother  might  subscribe  liberally  for  the  Christian 
Militia,  but  for  the  Government  to  give  its  sanction 
to  a  war  against  a  friendly  Sultan  was  another  mat- 
ter. Nor  was  the  prospect  more  hopeful  in  Ger- 
many, where  the  Thirty  Years'  War  was  beginning, 
and  the  Emperor  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  pre- 
ferred righting  Protestants  to  fighting  Turks. 

The  Duke  of  Nevers  at  last  equipped  a  few  ships 
and  declared  that  he  had  twelve  thousand  men  ready 
to  sail,  but  the  ships  were  taken  by  the  French 
government  to  use  against  La  Rochelle,  and  the 
troops  never  embarked.  By  1625,  both  the  Pope 
and  Father  Joseph  admitted  that  circumstances  de- 
manded an  indefinite  adjournment  of  the  project. 
Yet  to  the  end  of  his  long  political  career,  the 
Capuchin  clung  to  the  vision  of  a  crusade  against 
the  Turk,  and  believed  it  to  be  the  only  means  of 
restoring  peace  to  Europe.  "  The  only  way  to 
establish  peace  with  Austria,"  he  wrote  in  1635,  "is 
to  make  war  upon  the  Turk."  '  When  we  have 
made  a  general  peace,"  he  writes  again,  "  in  order 
to  maintain  it,  we  must  begin  war  with  Turkey." 

Richelieu  and   Father  Joseph  met  early  in  life, 


Relations  with  the  Ckurck  291 

and  the  Capuchin  seems  to  have  fallen  at  once  under 
the  spell  of  the  ambitious  young  politician.  Al- 
though the  older  man  of  the  two,  he  enrolled  him- 
self as  a  devoted  follower,  content  to  advance  the 
fortunes  of  his  leader,  and  satisfied  if  he  met  his 
approval.  The  close  relations  which  grew  up  be- 
tween them  were  never  disturbed  during  all  the 
vicissitudes  of  Richelieu's  career.  Father  Joseph 
was  active  among  those  who  demanded  Richelieu's 
recall  from  exile,  and,  when  the  Cardinal  became 
prime  minister,  the  Capuchin  was  soon  recognised 
as  the  man  most  in  his  confidence.  Thus  far  he  had 
been  known  as  a  religious  enthusiast,  a  man  who 
sympathised  with  mystics  and  dreamed  of  crusades. 
He  enlisted  in  the  service  of  a  statesman  who  made 
war  upon  the  Holy  Roman  Emperor,  and  was 
viewed  askance  by  the  Holy  Father.  But  the  fol- 
lower never  wavered  in  his  zeal,  no  matter  what  his 
leader's  policy  might  be. 

In  1630,  he  attended  the  council  and  diet  at  Rat- 
isbon  as  Richelieu's  representative,  and  exercised 
his  adroitness  in  the  confused  field  of  German  poli- 
tics. '  This  poor  Capuchin,"  the  Emperor  is 
reported  to  have  said,  "  has  disarmed  me  with  his 
capulet,  and  found  room  to  store  away  six  electoral 
hats  in  his  monk's  hood."  The  treaty,  to  which 
the  ambassador  agreed,  was  disavowed  by  Richelieu 
as  unwise  and  unauthorised,  but  a  rebuff,  which 
would  have  ended  most  diplomatic  careers,  in  nowise 
affected  the  favour  in  which  the  negotiator  was  held 
by  the  minister.  If  it  seemed  expedient  to  disavow 
Father  Joseph's  acts,  he  bore  the  affront  with 


292  Richelieu 

equanimity,  so  long  as  he  enjoyed  the  approval  of 
his  chief.  It  is  not  often  that  a  man  possessed  of 
such  ability  is  willing  to  devote  his  life  with  unques- 
tioning submission  to  the  service  of  another,  indif- 
ferent as  to  worldly  reward  or  public  repute. 

At  the  Palais  Cardinal  there  was  a  place  assigned 
to  the  Capuchin,  and  he  acted  as  secretary  of  state 
of  foreign  affairs  without  the  title.     In  indefatigable 
industry  he  did  not  yield  to  his  principal;  even  on 
his  sick-bed   he  received  foreign  ambassadors,  and 
discussed    questions  of  State  with   them   until  he 
could    talk   no  longer.      "  I    found   Father  Joseph 
very  ill,"  writes  a  diplomat  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy, 
"  because  he  will    not   cease  his  constant  labou 
.     .     .     I  left  him  exhausted  after  having  discuss 
negotiations  all  the  day  long,  stretched  out  on  hi; 
monk's  cot."      When    he  could  not   be  found, 
was  a  sure  sign  that  he  had  business  of  such  import 
ance  as  to  admit  no  interruption.     "  .     .     .     W( 
have   been    hunting  Pere  Joseph  these  five  or  si 
dayes     .     .     .     but  hee  is  not  to  be  found  by  any 
man,  neither  in  the  towne  nor  att  Ruelles,  which  is 
an  argument  that  there  is  some  great  dispatch  in 
hande,"  so  runs  an  English  letter.     When  he  took 
refuge  from  constant  toil,  it  was  usually  among  his 
followers  of  the  Calvary,  and  he  sought  in  religious 
meditation  some  diversion  from  European  politics. 

While  always  ready  to  follow  where  Richelieu 
led,  the  Capuchin  occasionally  saw  a  convenient 
opportunity  to  suggest  religious  considerations  to  a 
leader,  often  too  much  absorbed  in  worldly  matters 
to  give  sufficient  heed  to  the  welfare  of  his  soul. 


Relations  with  the  Church  293 

Amid  the  disasters  of  the  year  1636,  when  Corbie 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  Spanish,  and  Paris  was 
threatened,  it  is  said  that  even  Richelieu's  constancy 
was  for  a  moment  shaken,  and  that  his  assistant  ex- 
horted him  to  meet  misfortune  with  courage.  This 
is  unlikely,  but  it  is  certain  that  Father  Joseph  used 
those  days  of  disaster  to  excite  the  religious  zeal  of 
the  minister,  and  that  his  efforts  were  not  wholly 
unsuccessful. 

The  Capuchin's  nearest  approach  to  disgrace  was 
after  the  unfortunate  failure  of  the  siege  of  St. 
Omer.  The  failure  was  indeed  due  to  the  incapac- 
ity of  the  generals  to  whom  the  undertaking  had 
been  intrusted,  but  Father  Joseph  had  urged  the 
enterprise,  and  he  had  sought  to  overcome  Riche- 
lieu's hesitation  by  declaring  that  Heaven  had  fore- 
told his  success;  one  of  the  Calvarian  nuns  had  seen 
in  a  vision  the  surrender  of  the  town  and  had  im- 
parted the  revelation  to  her  director.  The  revela- 
tion proved  to  be  false,  Richelieu  was  greatly 
irritated,  and  Father  Joseph  for  a  while  seems  to 
have  held  aloof  from  worldly  affairs.  But  he  was 
soon  back  at  his  work,  apparently  with  undiminished 
credit,  and  thus  he  continued  until  death  closed  his 
labours.  His  activity  increased  rather  than  dimin- 
ished. Daily  he  prepared  for  the  Cardinal's  use  a 
rfouMtf  of  the  great  mass  of  diplomatic  correspond- 
ence, and  of  his  own  interviews  with  foreign  minis- 
ters. Early  in  the  morning  he  was  at  the  Cardinal's 
bedside,  and  late  at  night  he  was  still  with  him, 
discussing  the  innumerable  questions  to  which  each 
day  gave  rise. 


294  Richelieu 

Father  Joseph  was  older  than  Richelieu,  but  the 
Cardinal's  health  was  infirm  and  his  sudden  death 
would  have  caused  little  surprise.  He  was  not 
blind  to  his  condition,  and  was  free  from  any  weak 
reluctance  to  consider  who  could  best  carry  out  his 
policy  when  he  should  be  no  more.  There  was 
little  doubt  that  his  choice  would  have  fallen  on 
Father  Joseph,  although  there  is  much  doubt  if 
the  choice  would  have  been  a  judicious  one.  The 
Capuchin  possessed  untiring  energy  and  unusual 
diplomatic  skill,  but  when  no  longer  guided  by 
Richelieu's  good  judgment  he  might  easily  have 
wandered  into  political  vagaries.  Notwithstanding 
the  weaknesses  of  Mazarin's  character,  he  was  better 
fitted  to  carry  out  with  success  the  policy  which 
Richelieu  had  devised.  In  1635,  Grotius  wrote 
that  if  Richelieu  should  pass  away,  there  could  be 
no  doubt  that  Father  Joseph,  on  account  of  his 
extreme  rascality,  was  destined  to  succeed  to  the 
Cardinal's  place.  But  Grotius  loved  neither  the 
minister  nor  his  follower. 

Father  Joseph  was  not  destined  even  to  become 
a  cardinal.  There  was  no  truth  in  the  story  that 
Richelieu  was  faint-hearted  in  seeking  this  honour 
for  his  follower.  The  great  minister  was  loyal  to 
those  who  were  loyal  to  him  and  was  above  all 
petty  jealousies,  but  the  Pope  was  willing  to  in- 
dulge his  grudge  against  both  Richelieu  and  Father 
Joseph  by  refusing  the  promotion.  He  had  a 
plausible  excuse.  A  Capuchin  was  bound  to  re- 
nounce earthly  honours,  and  the  pomp  and  state  of 
a  cardinal  were  unfitting  in  one  who  had  taken  the 


Relations  with  the  Church  295 

vows  of  poverty  and  humility.  However  com- 
mendable was  this  position,  it  had  often  been  dis- 
regarded, and  another  Capuchin  then  sat  in  the 
College  of  Cardinals.  But  there  were  other  reasons 
for  the  papal  obduracy.  Richelieu  was  not  loved 
at  the  Vatican,  he  had  not  been  submissive  to  the 
wishes  of  the  papacy,  his  policy  had  often  placed 
him  in  an  attitude  of  avowed  hostility  to  the  Pope. 
Father  Joseph  was  not  only  a  priest,  but  he  was  a 
member  of  an  order  bound  by  their  vows  to  be 
faithful  and  zealous  servants  of  the  Holy  Father, 
yet  he  had  been  the  eager  advocate  of  Richelieu's 
policy,  even  when  this  was  condemned  by  faithful 
Catholics. 

Many  of  his  own  order  also  were  indifferent  to  his 
promotion.  Since  he  had  been  a  member  of  the 
Government,  he  had  neglected  the  simple  and  salut- 
ary rules  prescribed  to  him  as  a  monk;  he  lived  in 
Richelieu's  palace  and  shared  in  its  pomp  and 
luxury;  on  the  pretence  of  his  health  he  had  ob- 
tained a  dispensation  by  which  he  was  allowed  to 
use  money,  a  thing  forbidden  members  of  the  Order, 
who  were  bound  to  subsist  wholly  on  charity;  he 
rode  in  carriages  instead  of  walking,  he  ate  rich 
viands,  he  was  served  on  silver  plate  at  the  Cardi- 
nal's board. 

Notwithstanding  the  ill-will  of  the  Pope,  the 
honour  would  at  last  have  been  bestowed.  France, 
as  a  Catholic  power,  had  the  right  to  demand  the 
nomination  of  a  certain  number  of  cardinals.  Al- 
though Father  Joseph  was  passed  by  in  various 
promotions,  the  French  representatives  continued 


296  Richelieu 

their  solicitations,  and  in  1638  it  was  said  that 
Urban  VIII.  had  at  last  agreed  to  grant  their  re- 
quest. If  the  promise  was  sincere,  it  came  too  late. 
In  that  year  Father  Joseph  was  stricken  with  apo- 
plexy and  it  was  clear  that  he  had  not  long  to  live. 
He  was  himself  unwilling  that  a  cardinalate,  granted 
at  the  request  of  the  French  King,  should  be  be- 
stowed on  a  dying  man,  whose  promotion  would 
be  of  no  value  to  his  country. 

Accordingly,  the  French  ambassador  at  Rome 
informed  the  Pope  that  the  nomination  was  with- 
drawn, and  that  the  fatal  illness  of  Father  Joseph 
would  prevent  his  filling  an  office  for  which  he  was 
so  well  fitted.  Mazarin  was  already  committed  to 
the  interests  of  France  and  had  been  active  in  work- 
ing for  Father  Joseph's  promotion.  The  nomina- 
tion which  the  Capuchin  declined  was  transferred  to 
the  fortunate  young  Italian,  and  in  1641  the  honour 
was  conferred  on  him.  At  the  age  of  thirty-nine 
Mazarin  received  a  Cardinal's  hat,  for  which  so 
many  laboured  a  lifetime  in  vain;  his  career  of 
extraordinary  success  was  fairly  begun. 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN. 


CHAPTER  XI 

LIFE   AT   THE    PALAIS   CARDINAL 

THE  cares  of  State,  plans  for  campaigns,  instruc- 
tions to  ambassadors,   plots  to  frustrate  his 
enemies'   plots,   that  were  ever  pressing  on 
Richelieu,    would    have    exhausted    the   energy  of 
most  men,  but  he  found  time  for  other  things.    The 
part  he  took  in  the  literature  of  the  day,  the  build- 
ings he  erected,  his  efforts  to  establish  his  family 
among  the  great  French  nobility,  all  deserve  atten- 
tion. 

The  Cardinal  had  a  taste  for  building  which  he 
shared  with  many  French  sovereigns;  he  was  fond 
of  imposing  surroundings,  and  liked  to  dwell  in 
palaces.  The  ancestral  chateau  of  Richelieu  he 
rebuilt  with  great  magnificence;  but,  although  he 
cherished  a  strong  attachment  for  the  seat  of  his 
family  and  the  home  of  his  early  years,  he  had  little 
opportunity  to  visit  it.  At  Paris  he  erected  for 
himself  a  palace  that  he  afterwards  gave  to  the 
King,  and  which  was  not  unworthy  to  be  the  home 
of  royalty.  Of  the  Palais  Cardinal,  afterwards  the 
Palais  Royal,  some  portions  still  remain  and  form 

297 


298  Richelieu 

part  of  the  great  collection  of  buildings  now  known 
by  that  name.  There  the  Cardinal  lived  for  many 
years,  and  there  he  died. 

He  chose  a  site  near  the  Louvre,  in  a  quarter 
where  there  was  room  for  extensive  grounds.  It 
is  now  in  the  very  heart  of  Paris,  but  at  that 
period  there  were  few  buildings  in  the  vicinity,  and 
open  fields  stretched  to  the  city  walls.  The  pres- 
ent Rue  des  Petits  Champs  (the  Street  of  the 
Little  Fields)  commemorates  the  condition  of  this 
portion  of  the  city  when  Richelieu  chose  it  for  his 
residence. 

On  the  site  of  his  palace  formerly  stood  one  of 
the  most  famous  of  Parisian  houses.  In  the  early 
part  of  the  century  the  H6tel  Rambouillet  was  as 
celebrated  a  rendezvous  of  wits  and  litterateurs  as 
was  the  Holland  House  two  centuries  later.  The 
salon  was  presided  over  by  the  famous  Marquise  de 
Rambouillet,  whose  praises  were  sung  by  all  the 
poets  of  her  day,  and  it  was  one  of  the  first  of  the 
Parisian  salons  which  was  open  to  the  aristocracy  of 
brains  as  well  as  to  the  aristocracy  of  birth.  The 
marquise  herself  designed  the  residence,  and  it 
formed  an  epoch  in  domestic  architecture  and  deco- 
ration. She  discarded  the  sombre  hues,  the  dark 
and  cheerless  rooms  of  feudal  buildings.  Windows 
were  made  larger,  the  interior  arrangement  was 
more  convenient.  Red  and  tan  had  been  the  almost 
universal  colours  for  interiors,  and  a  prodigious 
sensation  was  produced  in  society  when  Mme.  de 
Rambouillet  threw  open  to  her  guests  the  blue 
chamber,  furnished  in  blue  velvet  and  adorned  with 


Life  at  the  Palais  Cardinal  299 

gold  and  silver  decorations.  In  the  blue  chamber 
the  wits  met,  and  it  was  celebrated  by  the  famous 
Voiture,  as  well  as  by  lesser  luminaries. 

The  influence  of  the  H6tel  Rambouillet  on  the 
literature  of  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  cent- 
ury was  considerable,  and  it  was  valuable  in  check- 
ing the  coarseness  and  vulgarity  that  were  common 
in  the  preceding  generation.  Perhaps  the  taste  of 
the  society  which  gathered  there  tended  to  over- 
elaboration  ;  they  delighted  in  ingenious  conceits,, 
and  used  language  not  far  removed  from  that: 
of  the  Prdcieuscs  Ridicules  whom  Moliere  satir- 
ised. Letters,  as  well  as  politics,  were  revolu- 
tionised under  Richelieu,  and  the  conceits  of  the 
Hotel  Rambouillet  seem  feeble  when  compared 
with  the  stately  verses  of  Corneille  or  the  vigorous 
satire  of  Moliere. 

At  all  events,  the  Cardinal  bought  the  hotel,  pay- 
ing for  it,  and  for  the  delightful  grounds  by  which  it 
was  surrounded,  ninety  thousand  livres.  The  price 
of  such  a  residence,  within  almost  a  stone's  throw 
from  the  Louvre,  illustrates  the  difference  in  the 
value  of  money.  The  sum  Richelieu  paid  for  the 
fee  would  be  little  more  than  the  annual  rental  of 
the  property  to-day.  Apart  from  the  increase  in 
the  value  of  the  land,  it  would  to-day  cost  to  build 
such  a  residence  as  then  stood  upon  it,  ten  times  the 
amount  that  Richelieu  paid.  He  bought  it  to  tear 
down,  and  two  other  residences  were  also  demol- 
ished to  make  room  for  the  Palais  Cardinal.  In  the 
rear,  extensive  and  beautiful  gardens  were  laid  out 
on  ground  which  is  now  covered  by  the  buildings 


300  Richelieu 

of  the  Palais  Royal.  The  growth  of  this  part 
of  the  city  soon  led  to  the  removal  of  the  old  city 
walls,  and  in  1633  new  walls  were  placed  along  the 
lines  marked  by  the  boulevards  of  modern  Paris. 

On  the  embellishment  of  his  palace  Richelieu  ex- 
pended vast  sums  of  money.  It  was  a  fit  residence 
for  kings,  and  he  cherished  the  ambition  that  by 
kings  only  should  it  be  occupied  in  future  ages.  It 
was  a  condition  of  the  gift  to  Louis  XIII.,  so  the 
instrument  read,  that  the  property  should  be  in- 
alienable, "  the  intention  of  the  Cardinal  being 
that  it  shall  serve  as  a  residence  for  his  Majesty  and 
his  successors,  or  for  heirs  of  the  Crown,  having 
built  this  palace  at  such  expense  with  that  design." 

The  desires  of  the  Cardinal  as  to  his  property  did 
not  control  its  future  use,  and  the  provisions  of  the 
gift  were  not  observed.  The  Palais  Royal  in  time 
came  into  the  possession  of  the  Orleans,  the  younger 
branch  of  the  royal  family,  and  by  a  slow  process  of 
decline  it  has  changed  its  form  and  use  until,  in- 
stead of  a  home  of  kings  and  cardinals,  it  has  be- 
come the  headquarters  of  keepers  of  restaurants 
and  sellers  of  cheap  jewelry. 

Rueil  was  the  Cardinal's  country  seat,  where 
much  of  his  time  was  spent.  There,  also,  he  erected 
a  superb  chateau,  around  which  a  village  grew  up, 
whose  inhabitants  largely  found  their  occupation  in 
the  needs  of  the  great  manor  and  the  extensive 
hospitality  which  its  owner  extended.  The  pomp 
by  which  he  was  surrounded  equalled  that  of  many 
a  petty  sovereign.  In  the  height  of  his  power,  his 
expenses  were  estimated  at  four  million  livres  a 


Life  at  the  Palais  Cardinal  301 

year,  quite  as  much  as  an  annual  expenditure  of 
four  million  dollars  in  our  day.  Such  an  establish- 
ment was  not  that  of  a  private  man,  but  of  a  prince. 
He  had  four  companies  of  horse-guards  in  his  serv- 
ice, the  equals  of  any  in  the  army ;  on  his  pay-roll 
were  diplomats,  artists,  and  writers,  to  whom  he 
granted  pensions  out  of  his  own  resources. 

It  was  not  alone  in  erecting  palaces  for  his  own 
use  that  the  Cardinal  occupied  himself.  He  was 
strongly  attached  to  the  Sorbonne;  there  a  portion 
of  his  early  life  had  been  spent,  there  his  first  suc- 
cesses were  gained,  he  had  been  chosen  grand  master 
of  the  institution,  and  in  his  ecclesiastical  disputes, 
which  were  numerous,  he  could  always  rely  on  the 
faithful  support  of  its  members.  He  showed  his 
appreciation  by  constructing  the  college  buildings 
and  church  which  still  stand,  and  are  used  practically 
as  they  were  in  Richelieu's  days.  It  was  at  his 
own  request  that  his  remains  were  laid  in  the  church 
of  the  Sorbonne.  A  charity  which  perhaps  inter- 
ested him  as  much  as  his  gifts  to  the  Church  and 
the  monks  was  an  establishment  for  the  education 
of  twenty  young  gentlemen  who,  as  a  condition, 
were  bound  to  serve  in  the  King's  army. 

It  was  at  his  city  residence  that  the  most  of 
Richelieu's  life  when  prime  minister  was  spent.  It 
answered  the  purpose  alike  of  a  private  residence 
and  of  a  public  office.  There  his  secretaries  were 
found,  ambassadors  were  received,  and  the  work 
was  done  which  would  now  be  performed  in  the 
official  buildings  reserved  for  the  use  of  the  prime 
minister  or  the  secretary  of  foreign  affairs.  There 


302  Richelieu 

also  the  great  fetes  were  given  in  which  he  de- 
lighted, and  there  were  held  the  literary  meetings 
in  which  he  took  part. 

His  life  was  laborious,  and  the  Palais  Cardinal 
was  filled  with  a  changing  crowd,  who  came  to  re- 
ceive instructions,  to  impart  information,  to  obtain 
favours  or  volunteer  advice,  all  eager  to  converse 
with  the  chief  personage  in  European  politics. 
Richelieu  took  little  outdoor  exercise,  and  he  had 
stipulated  that  his  infirm  health  should  excuse 
him  from  the  constant  attendance  upon  the  King  or- 
dinarily expected  of  a  minister.  There  was,  there- 
fore, little  to  interrupt  the  daily  routine  of  toil.  In 
the  morning,  the  Cardinal  looked  over  and  signed  his 
voluminous  correspondence  ;  foreign  ministers  were 
received,  confidential  agents  and  the  host  of  people 
who  had  business  with  the  minister,  or  wished  to 
have.  Sprinkled  among  the  crowd  was  always  a 
goodly  number  of  ecclesiastics,  for  he  was  fond  of 
employing  those  of  his  cloth.  The  secretaries  of 
state  had  their  interviews,  the  private  secretaries  re- 
ceived dictations,  and  all  day  long  the  work  went  on. 
Almost  every  evening  the  Cardinal  spent  an  hour  or 
two  in  conference  with  Father  Joseph,  sometimes  dis- 
cussing religion,  and  more  often  discussing  politics. 

Of  private  life,  there  was  none.  Except  his 
niece,  the  Cardinal  rarely  had  any  of  his  family 
living  with  him.  He  might  have  said,  "  I  am  the 
State,"  and  he  might  also  have  said  that  he  had 
no  other  existence.  He  kept  a  considerable  force 
of  secretaries,  whose  services  certainly  were  not 
overpaid,  no  matter  how  much  they  received.  His. 


Life  at  the  Palais  Cardinal  303 

industry  was  unwearied,  and  he  often  toiled  by 
night  as  well  as  by  day.  He  slept  little,  restless 
alike  from  ill-health  and  from  a  feverish  activity. 
If  he  awoke  and  wished  to  dictate,  a  secretary  was 
always  at  hand  and  at  once  work  was  resumed :  in- 
structions to  some  ambassador,  or  plans  for  the  next 
campaign,  or  some  passage  for  his  Memoirs,  or 
whatever  was  uppermost  in  his  mind. 

This  prodigious  labour  was  continued  for  many 
years,  notwithstanding  infirmities  of  health  which 
most  men  would  have  regarded  as  an  excuse  for  in- 
dolence. His  health  was  poor  from  youth,  and  it 
grew  no  better  with  years.  Many  times  he  seemed 
at  death's  door,  and  the  hopes  of  his  enemies  were 
frequently  excited  by  the  conviction  that  his  end 
was  near.  But  his  energy  rose  superior  to  physical 
weakness;  he  worked  no  matter  what  his  condition, 
and  his  dauntless  resolution  aided  him  to  rally  from 
maladies  that  his  doctors  believed,  and  his  rivals 
hoped,  would  prove  mortal.  His  was  the  triumph 
of  a  sound  mind  in  an  unsound  body. 

He  was  interested  in  the  theatre,  and  found  pleas- 
ure in  the  pompous  representations  and  ballets  that 
were  produced  at  the  Palais  Cardinal.  Of  other 
amusement  there  was  little.  His  increasing  infirm- 
ities prevented  outdoor  exercise,  and  like  most  men 
of  active  mind  he  found  his  greatest  pleasure  in  his 
work. 

It  was  said  that  he  had  a  taste  for  pets  and  some- 
times amused  himself  playing  with  cats.  The 
picture  on  the  opposite  page  is  reproduced  from 
a  contemporary  print,  and  shows  the  Cardinal 


304  Richelieu 

fondling  his  pets,  while  the  headsman  stands  ready 
to  receive  orders  for  the  execution  of  the  minister's 
enemies.  Executioners  did  not  hold  personal  in- 
terviews with  prime  ministers,  and  the  picture,  which, 
like  many  others  of  the  time,  was  intended  to  illus- 
trate the  wickedness  of  the  Cardinal's  nature,  was 
not  taken  from  life. 

There  is  little  to  say  of  his  ordinary  modes  of  life. 
Fond  as  he  was  of  display,  his  every-day  existence 
was  simple  enough.  He  was  temperate  in  his  eating 
and  drinking ;  his  infirm  health  would  have  compelled 
moderation,  and  he  had  no  taste  for  excess.  His 
life  was  always  dignified  and  decorous.  By  his 
enemies  he  was  accused  of  every  vice,  and  his  rela- 
tions with  women  were  not  omitted  in  the  catalogue, 
but  Richelieu  was  too  absorbed  in  the  cares  of  State 
to  give  much  time  to  pleasures  of  any  sort. 

For  the  most  part,  he  was  a  kind  though  a  rigor- 
ous master.  Those  who  were  faithful  in  his  service 
had  no  occasion  to  complain  that  they  failed  to 
receive  not  only  just  but  liberal  reward.  They  had 
to  bear,  indeed,  with  a  master  who  was  exacting  in 
his  demands,  who  spared  others  no  more  than  him- 
self, and  who  at  times  indulged  in  fits  of  passion  not 
wholly  in  keeping  with  his  religious  dignity.  It  was 
said  that  the  Cardinal  sometimes  beat  his  servants; 
if  he  did  so,  this  was  not  a  thing  repugnant  to  the 
customs  of  the  time.  For  a  gentleman  occasionally 
to  cane  his  valet  was  quite  in  conformity  with  the 
usages  of  good  society.  Richelieu's  enemies  said  that 
he  sometimes  beat  not  only  his  valets,  but  his  asso- 
ciates in  public  office,  but  the  truth  of  this  we  may 


CARDINAL   RICHELIEU    AND    HIS  CATS. 

FROM  AN  OLD  PRINT. 


Life  at  the  Palais  Cardinal  305 

question.  It  is  certain  that  when  the  Cardinal  was 
angry,  he  swore  with  much  vehemence.  Lenet 
writes,  speaking  of  Richelieu's  troubles  with  the 
young  Duke  of  Enghien :  "I  have  learned  from 
those  who  were  witnesses  of  his  anger,  that  the 
great  man  lost  all  control  of  himself  and  swore  so 
terribly  that  they  were  filled  with  horror."  Such 
scenes  were  not  rare. 

Richelieu  was  fond  of  a  profuse  hospitality;  the 
ordinary  routine  of  work  was  often  broken  by  fetes, 
in  which  the  minister  displayed  his  wealth  and  his 
splendour.  In  1639,  the  successes  of  the  French 
armies  were  celebrated  with  great  pomp.  "  Feli- 
city "  was  the  word  which  furnished  the  theme  for 
the  ballet,  that  was  presented  with  much  magnifi- 
cence. In  it  were  portrayed  the  misfortunes  of  the 
past,  the  joys  of  the  present,  and  the  bliss  of  the 
future.  This  ballet  was  performed  at  St.  Germain, 
at  the  Hotel  de  Ville  in  Paris,  and  at  the  Palais 
Cardinal,  and  Richelieu  paid  one-third  of  the  entire 
expense.  The  representation  at  his  palace  did  not 
yield  to  the  others,  and  in  one  respect  it  exceeded 
them.  The  Cardinal  used  priests  not  only  as  gen- 
erals and  admirals  but  as  impresarios;  the  Bishop  of 
Chartres  took  charge  of  the  ballet  and  with  entire 
success. 

In  the  winter  of  1640,  further  victories  were  cele- 
brated at  the  Palais  Cardinal  with  equal  splendour, 
and  the  prosperity  of  the  armies  of  France  furnished 
the  theme  of  a  ballet.  The  devices  and  machines 
used  in  the  ballet  excited  much  wonder;  they  repre- 
sented sunrise,  the  plain  of  Casale  covered  with 


306  Richelieu 

snow,  and,  most  imposing  of  all,  the  heavens  open- 
ing and  Jupiter  appearing  upon  his  throne. 

In  January,  1641,  the  tragedy  of  Mirame  was 
presented  with  even  greater  magnificence,  at  a  cost, 
it  was  said,  of  over  two  hundred  thousand  crowns. 
The  play  was  given  under  the  name  of  Desmarets, 
but  it  was  thought  to  be  the  work  of  the  minister 
himself.  It  is  probable  that  he  took  some  part  in 
its  composition,  and  it  is  certain  that  Mirame  is  a 
very  second-rate  play,  whoever  was  its  author. 

But,  if  there  was  question  as  to  the  merits  of  the 
play,  there  was  none  as  to  the  splendour  of  the 
representation.  For  some  years  artisans  had  been 
working  at  the  great  hall  for  theatrical  entertain- 
ments in  the  wing  of  the  Palais  Cardinal.  Mazarin 
often  combined  with  his  diplomatic  duties  the 
execution  of  commissions  in  the  purchase  of  works 
of  art  and  luxury,  and  he  was  now  charged  with 
procuring  in  Italy  scenery  and  theatrical  machinery 
for  the  great  occasion.  No  theatrical  exhibition 
ever  seen  in  France  could  be  compared  with  the 
first  representation  of  Mirame,  before  an  audience 
in  which  were  found  the  King  and  Queen,  and 
almost  every  one  of  rank  and  prominence.  From 
this  select  assemblage  the  play  obtained  a  success, 
which  was  in  part  due  to  the  beauty  of  the  setting, 
and  in  part  to  the  well-founded  belief  that  the  name 
of  the  author  was  not  Desmarets,  but  Richelieu. 

When  the  curtain  rose,  so  the  chronicler  tells 
us,  there  was  disclosed  a  view  of  delightful  gardens, 
ornamented  with  fountains,  statues,  and  grottos, 
with  terraces  overlooking  a  sea,  the  movements  of 


Life  at  the  Palais  Cardinal  307 

which  seemed  real  water;  and  upon  the  sea  two 
fleets  manoeuvred,  one  of  which  appeared  to  be  at 
least  two  leagues  distant  from  the  audience.  In 
these  days  of  spectacular  display,  we  are  unmoved 
by  such  effects,  but  they  were  regarded  as  marvel- 
lous achievements  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago. 
When  the  play  was  over,  a  gilded  bridge  was  thrown 
to  the  feet  of  the  Queen,  she  passed  over,  accom- 
panied by  the  princes  and  princesses,  and,  on  the 
stage,  now  converted  into  a  magnificent  salon,  began 
the  dance. 

In  1639,  a  comedy  of  Scudery  was  acted  by  child- 
ren, and  among  them,  strangely  enough,  was  the 
young  Jacqueline  Pascal,  then  fourteen  years  of  age, 
a  sister  of  Blaise  Pascal,  and  herself  destined  to  be 
one  of  the  famous  inmates  of  the  Port  Royal.  She 
acted  with  much  success,  and  Richelieu  rewarded 
her  efforts  by  forgiving  her  father  for  some  act  of 
contumacy  by  reason  of  which  his  arrest  had  been 
ordered. 

Besides  representations  of  plays,  there  were  fre- 
quent literary  gatherings  at  the  Palais  Cardinal,  the 
recitation  of  new  poems,  the  reading  of  new  books, 
which  were  submitted  to  the  taste  of  the  Cardinal 
and  the  judgment  of  the  members  of  the  Academy. 

The  Palais  Cardinal  was  not  only  the  home  and 
the  bureau  of  the  prime  minister,  it  was  the  scene 
of  much  of  interest  in  literary  history.  Amid  all 
the  cares  of  State,  with  half  a  dozen  armies  in  the 
field,  with  the  Queen-mother  plotting  for  his  over- 
throw, and  Gaston  listening  to  schemes  for  his  as- 
sassination, the  Cardinal  found  time  to  give  to 


308  Richelieu 

literature  as  much  attention  as  many  who  had 
nothing  to  do  but  write  books. 

The  Cardinal  was  fond  of  literary  discussion,  and 
still  more  fond  of  literary  production.  '  What  do 
you  think  I  enjoy  most  ?  "  he  said  to  an  acquaint- 
ance. '  To  insure  the  happiness  of  France,"  re- 
plied the  discreet  courtier.  ' '  No, ' '  said  the  Cardinal, 
"  to  write  verses."  If  this  was  said  in  jest,  there 
was  at  least  a  grain  of  seriousness  in  it. 

A  desire  for  literary  fame,  without  the  possession 
of  literary  talent,  has  been  often  charged  as  a  weak- 
ness of  the  great  minister.  It  is  hard  to  say  wherein 
this  was  a  weakness.  The  Cardinal  was  fond  of 
books,  a  generous  and  not  an  unintelligent  patron 
of  literature.  He  was  not  a  great  writer,  and  the 
respectable  position  to  which  he  was  entitled  as  an 
author  was  eclipsed  by  his  fame  as  a  statesman. 
But  Richelieu's  style,  both  in  his  correspondence 
and  in  his  Memoirs,  often  rises  to  a  high  level;  it  is 
vigorous,  terse,  and  bears  the  imprint  of  a  great 
man.  In  addition  to  his  public  duties,  he  found 
time  to  dictate  the  voluminous  Memoirs,  which  are 
the  most  valuable  source  of  information  as  to  his 
career.  Often,  indeed,  they  are  filled  with  lengthy 
instructions  sent  to  an  ambassador,  with  long  ex- 
hortations addressed  to  the  King,  and  become  weari- 
some to  the  reader;  but  they  give  the  Cardinal's  own 
story  of  his  work  and  his  policy,  and  they  do  so  sub- 
stantially in  his  own  words.  He  took  the  interest 
in  telling  of  his  achievements  which  is  not  infre- 
quent among  men  of  action.  "  It  is  more  satisfac- 
tory," he  writes,  "  to  furnish  the  matter  of  history 


Life  at  the  Palais  Cardinal  309 

than  to  narrate  it,  and  still  there  is  no  small  pleasure 
in  relating  that  which  has  been  accomplished  with 
much  pain." 

None  of  his  productions  have  received  as  much 
attention  as  the  Political  Testament,  in  which  the 
Cardinal  left  his  advice  to  posterity  concerning 
the  theory  and  details  of  French  administration. 
The  authenticity  of  this  work  has  been  one  of  the 
moot  questions  in  French  history.  Voltaire,  whose 
critical  sense  was  acute,  insisted  that  Richelieu  had 
no  part  in  the  work.  '  It  was  unworthy  of  the 
great  statesman,"  said  the  great  critic;  "  a  collection 
of  commonplaces,  the  creation  of  some  compiler, 
who  stole  Richelieu's  name  to  cover  his  own  empti- 
ness." It  is  generally  admitted  that  Voltaire  was 
wrong,  and  while  the  Political  Testament  is  not  a 
work  which  compares  favourably  with  the  Spirit  of 
the  Laws,  there  is  little  doubt  that  Richelieu  inspired 
it,  even  if  the  actual  work  of  composition  may  have 
been  left  to  subordinates.  If  there  is  nothing  novel 
in  the  work,  it  is  for  the  most  part  sensible;  the 
remedies  suggested  are  palliatives  rather  than  cures; 
but  Richelieu's  influence  on  French  administration 
was  due  more  to  energy  of  purpose  than  to  original- 
ity of  mind. 

He  was  less  successful  when  he  abandoned  his 
despatches  and  his  Memoirs  to  engage  in  creations 
of  the  imagination.  The  Cardinal  had  a  strong  taste 
for  the  stage;  not  only  was  he  interested  in  drama- 
tic work,  but  he  had  an  itching  to  try  his  hand  at 
dramatic  composition.  There  was  at  the  palace  a 
corps  of  literary  as  well  as  of  political  workers,  and 


3IO  Richelieu 

the  correction  of  rhymes  alternated  with  the  dic- 
tation of  despatches.  Frederick  II.  found  relief 
amid  disaster  in  writing  bad  poetry,  and  Richelieu 
turned  from  the  mingled  success  and  defeat  of  the 
Thirty  Years'  War  to  criticise  metres  and  discuss 
the  unities. 

Those  who  became  known  as  the  five  poets  were 
regularly  employed  in  the  literary  branch  of  the 
administration ;  they  criticised  the  productions  of 
others  and  turned  out  productions,  for  the  most 
part  very  bad,  of  their  own.  Their  most  important 
work,  in  Richelieu's  estimation,  was  in  aiding  him 
in  his  efforts  at  dramatic  composition.  He  liked  to 
outline  the  play,  to  devise  the  plot,  to  prescribe  the 
sentiments  and  dramatic  situations,  and  leave  it  for 
the  assistants  to  give  the  necessary  literary  polish. 
He  wished  to  block  out  the  model  and  let  others 
finish  the  work.  The  results  of  such  efforts  were 
not  important  in  literary  history,  and  the  poets  of 
the  Palais  Cardinal  are  chiefly  interesting  because  a 
great  poet  was  for  a  while  one  of  their  number.  In 
1634,  Pierre  Corneille  brought  himself  to  Richelieu's 
attention  by  composing  a  Latin  ode  that  was  recited 
at  the  Cardinal's  reception  at  Rouen.  He  was 
already  somewhat  known,  and  presently  he  became 
one  of  the  five  poets,  and  for  a  while  resided  in 
Richelieu's  literary  household.  But  the  great 
dramatist  was  as  imperious  in  literature  as  the 
Cardinal  was  in  politics,  and  their  relations  were 
not  long  continued.  Still,  Richelieu  is  identified 
with  Corneille's  literary  career,  and  did  somewhat 
to  assist  in  its  success.  When  the  Cid  appeared,  it 


PIERRE   CORNEILLE. 

FROM    AN    OLD    PRINT. 


Life  at  the  Palais  Cardinal  31 1 

was  dedicated  to  Richelieu's  niece,  and  was  twice 
acted  in  Richelieu's  palace.  It  was  too  bold  an 
innovation  on  accepted  models  to  meet  the  Cardinal's 
approval,  and,  at  his  suggestion,  the  play,  over  the 
merits  of  which  fierce  discussion  arose,  was  submit- 
ted to  the  judgment  of  the  newly  organised  French 
Academy.  The  opinion  of  the  Academy  was  un- 
favourable, yet  the  Cid  remains  after  more  than 
two  centuries  one  of  the  masterpieces  of  the  French 
stage.  Though  Corneille  quitted  the  Cardinal's 
employ,  he  did  not  altogether  lose  his  good-will; 
he  not  only  received  a  pension  from  the  Govern- 
ment, but  Richelieu  rendered  him  more  valuable 
service,  for  he  interfered  in  his  behalf,  and  induced 
the  parents  of  Mademoiselle  de  Lampdriere  to  with- 
draw their  opposition  to  her  marriage  with  the  poet. 
In  1635,  Richelieu  organised  one  of  his  most 
famous  and  most  enduring  creations.  For  several 
years  a  number  of  men  prominent  in  letters  had  met, 
usually  at  the  house  of  Valentin  Conrart,  and  dis- 
cussed questions  of  literary  interest.  Possibly  the 
Cardinal  was  jealous  of  a  body  capable  of  exercising 
a  certain  influence  in  literature  and  independent  of 
his  authority,  and  doubtless  he  thought  that  such 
an  organisation  could  do  more  important  work  if  it 
were  placed  under  the  royal  protection.  In  1635, 
letters  patent  converted  this  informal  assembly  into 
the  French  Academy,  under  the  protection  of  Cardi- 
nal Richelieu,  who  was  to  frame  its  statutes.  The 
number  of  members  was  fixed  at  forty ;  they  were 
granted  various  immunities,  and  were  to  prepare  a 
dictionary,  grammar,  and  rhetoric,  which  would  be 


3 1 2  Richelieu 

the  code  of  the  French  language.  Most  of  the 
original  members  were  officials  whose  claims  to  liter- 
ary distinction  were  moderate,  and  the  work  with 
which  the  body  was  intrusted  remains  incomplete 
after  two  centuries. 

Nevertheless,  the  influence  of  the  Academy  on 
French  literature  has  been  great  and  has  been  valu- 
able. One  cannot  question  the  raison  d 'fare  of  an 
organisation  which  has  already  lasted  for  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years.  Kings  and  emperors  have 
come  and  gone,  the  Bourbon  monarchy  has  perished, 
the  old  regime  has  passed  away,  Napoleons  have 
flourished  and  fallen,  but  the  French  Academy  has 
survived  monarchies  and  empires  and  republics;  its 
membership  is  still  the  honour  most  prized  by 
French  writers,  its  influence  on  French  literature  is 
unabated,  its  favourable  judgment  has  lost  none  of 
its  value.  Few  creations  of  any  statesman  have 
more  successfully  resisted  the  changes  that  the  cen- 
turies bring. 

We  have  had  occasion  to  notice  the  opposition  of 
the  courts  to  all  innovations,  and  curiously  enough 
the  Parliament  of  Paris  made  a  determined  resist- 
ance to  the  organisation  of  the  Academy.  It  would 
seem  that  the  judges  might  have  viewed  with  in- 
difference this  body  of  litterateurs,  the  most  of 
whom  they  probably  regarded  as  scribblers  and 
second-class  poets  of  small  social  importance.  Their 
animosity  was  perhaps  excited  by  the  fact  that  the 
Academicians  could  insist  that  actions  to  which 
they  were  parties  should  be  tried  before  the  mas- 
ters of  requests,  and  thus  infringed  on  their  judicial 


Life  at  the  Palais  Cardinal  313 

functions.  Richelieu  was  always  resolute  in  forcing 
the  judges  into  obedience,  but  it  was  only  after  two 
years'  delay  and  repeated  orders  from  the  King  that 
the  Parliament  very  sulkily  registered  the  edict  by 
which  the  Academy  was  created.  One  of  the  judges 
satisfied  his  spleen  by  declaring  that  the  time  wasted 
on  such  a  subject  could  only  be  compared  with  the 
deliberations  of  the  Roman  Senate  on  the  proper 
sauce  for  a  turbot. 

There  were  among  the  early  Academicians  some 
men  renowned  in  their  day,  though  their  fame,  like 
that  of  many  other  immortals,  has  grown  dim  in  the 
centuries.  Balzac  was  declared  one  of  the  great 
luminaries  of  literature,  whose  writings  would  charm 
the  world  from  pole  to  pole.  They  did  not  pene- 
trate such  remote  regions  even  in  his  lifetime,  and 
now  they  charm  nobody.  Yet  he  was  a  critic  of  fair 
capacity,  and  if  he  accomplished  no  great  work  him- 
self, he  did  something  to  improve  prose  composition, 
and  prepare  the  way  for  those  who  could  do  great 
work. 

Voiture  was  another  of  the  original  members  of 
the  Academy,  and  was  also  famous  in  his  own  day. 
He  was  a  clever  writer  of  clever  verses  that  were 
full  of  pretty  things  and  not  wholly  destitute  of 
amusing  things.  He  was  beloved  in  the  fashionable 
society  of  the  time,  and  a  lady  uttered  the  justest 
criticism  ever  pronounced  upon  him,  when  she  said 
that  he  ought  to  be  preserved  in  sugar. 

On  the  whole,  literature  flourished  better  under 
Mazarin  who  neglected  it,  than  under  Richelieu 
who  patronised  it.  The  Cardinal  loved  to  pose  as  a 


3 1 4  Richelieu 

Maecenas,  and  he  desired  that  France  should  be 
great  in  letters  as  well  as  in  arms,  but  the  authors 
whom  he  preferred  were  for  the  most  part  second- 
rate  men.  Even  if  his  prot£g6s  were  not  all  geniuses, 
his  rule  helped  to  develop  the  writers  who  were  to 
become  famous  under  his  successor.  The  heroism 
of  his  character,  the  vigour  and  determination 
with  which  he  ruled  the  State,  furnished  more  stim- 
ulus to  literature  than  the  criticism  of  his  "  five 
poets." 

If  there  were  little  value  in  the  critical  dicta  which 
Richelieu  pronounced,  there  was  an  inspiration  in 
the  era  of  which  he  was  the  central  figure.  It  was 
a  time  of  intellectual  activity;  whatever  were  the 
Cardinal's  errors,  there  was  an  element  of  lofty  am- 
bition, of  unwearied  energy  and  dauntless  courage, 
which  impressed  the  world.  Great  wars  were  waged, 
great  schemes  were  unfolded,  great  ambitions  were 
cherished ;  it  was  an  era  of  unrest  and  high  resolve, 
in  which  an  active  and  an  artistic  mind  could  find 
inspiration.  Moliere,  Pascal,  Rochefoucauld,  and 
Retz  were  all  young  men  during  the  administration 
of  the  Cardinal.  Corneille  produced  his  greatest 
plays  while  Richelieu  was  prime  minister.  Descartes 
also  did  much  of  his  work  during  Richelieu's  life- 
time, but  his  course  was  unaffected  by  the  political 
life  of  France.  He  left  his  country  when  a  young 
man  and  sought  a  peaceful  refuge  in  Holland ;  the 
subtile  air  of  Paris,  so  he  declared,  inclined  the  brain 
to  vanity,  and  he  abandoned  it  for  cloud  and  fog. 
The  value  of  his  metaphysical  work  is  questioned  by 
those  who  doubt  whether  any  metaphysicians  have 


Life  at  the  Palais  Cardinal  315 

done  much  to  solve  the  problems  of  life,  but  his  in- 
fluence on  French  literature  was  beneficial.  He  was 
among  the  first  who  helped  to  deliver  it  from  the 
exaggeration  and  bad  taste  of  the  early  part  of  the 
century,  and  to  develop  the  clear,  concise,  and 
vigorous  prose  which  marked  the  great  writers  of 
the  age  of  Louis  XIV. 

In  the  attention  he  paid  to  literature,  Richelieu 
followed  the  example  which  had  already  been  set  at 
the  Hotel  Rambouillet.  The  Palais  Cardinal  de- 
serves a  place  in  the  history  of  French  literature, 
not  because  authors  there  found  any  very  valuable 
assistance,  but  because  authors  were  found  there  at 
all.  Though  Richelieu  was  aristocratic  in  his  pre- 
judices, his  mind  was  open  to  new  influences.  Not 
only  had  he  a  taste  for  literature  and  a  desire  for 
literary  reputation,  but  he  recognised  the  growing 
importance  of  the  men  who  wrote;  he  cultivated 
their  society  from  policy  as  well  as  inclination. 
Only  recently  had  abilities  of  this  kind  secured  any 
social  recognition.  It  was  a  novel  sight  when  in 
the  salon  of  Mme.  de  Rambouillet  dukes  and  princes 
met  on  terms  of  at  least  nominal  equality  with  poets 
and  play-writers.  Such  association  did  not  indeed 
do  away  with  a  thorough  recognition  of  the  differ- 
ence in  rank.  Voiture  was  an  intimate  of  the  H6tel 
Rambouillet,  and  was  often  impertinent.  "  If  Voi- 
ture were  our  equal,"  remarked  a  great  nobleman, 
"  he  would  not  be  suffered." 

At  the  Palais  Cardinal  men  of  letters  were  as  well 
received  as  those  of  rank.  No  one  indeed  indulged  in 
impertinence  with  Richelieu  ;  the  Duke  of  Enghien, 


3 1 6  Richelieu 

the  most  overbearing  of  young  nobles,  and  Voiture, 
the  most  impertinent  of  poets,  were  alike  overawed 
in  that  august  presence.  More  absolute  deference 
was  rendered  to  the  Cardinal  than  to  the  King  him- 
self. There  were  still  some  relics  of  the  free  customs 
of  the  earlier  French  monarchy ;  the  elaborate  cere- 
monial by  which  Louis  XIV.  was  surrounded  had 
not  yet  become  an  established  usage  in  society. 
Louis  XIII.  writes  his  minister  describing  an  inter- 
view with  a  captain  who  had  failed  of  promotion. 
"  He  spoke  to  me  swelling  with  wrath,  and  said: 
'  What  have  I  done  that  you  wish  me  so  much  ill  ? 
I  thought  there  was  something  to  gain  in  serving 
you,  but  I  see  there  is  nothing  for  me  to  hope.' 
'  At  Chantilly  you  asked  to  resign,'  I  replied.  '  I 
do  not  wish  to  resign  now,'  rejoined  the  officer 
"...  I  have  consumed  two  hundred  thousand 
francs  in  your  service,  and  you  have  done  nothing 
for  me.'  '  You  lost  it  at  play!'  "  shouted  the  King. 
Even  in  the  days  of  Louis  XIII.  courtiers  would 
not  allow  a  face-to-face  brawl  between  King  and 
subject  to  go  too  far,  and  at  last  the  interview  was 
stopped.  Such  free  talk  was  not  rare  a  century 
before.  In  the  later  days  of  the  Bourbon  monarchy 
it  would  have  been  unthinkable  that  any  person 
should  thus  address  the  King  of  France. 

But  we  can  be  certain  that  no  one  ever  abused 
Richelieu  to  his  face  after  he  had  attained  to  power. 
No  one  who  entered  the  room  in  the  Palais  Cardinal 
in  which  the  ruler  of  France,  arrayed  in  his  ecclesias- 
tical robes,  sat  reclining  in  his  chair,  and  who  gazed 
upon  the  figure  weakened  by  disease,  the  pale  and 


Life  at  the  Palais  Cardinal  3 1 7 

emaciated  face  whose  smile  might  mean  fortune  and 
whose  frown  might  mean  ruin,  spoke  except  with 
deference  and  bated  breath,  and  some  were  so 
frightened  that  they  could  not  speak  at  all. 

But  with  men  of  letters  the  Cardinal  was  always 
cordial,  and,  for  him,  familiar.  One  of  them  stood 
before  him  uncovered,  addressing  him  as  he  would 
his  sovereign.  The  Cardinal  bade  him  sit  down  and 
talk  about  questions  of  literature  as  with  any  fellow 
labourer.  If  Tennyson  had  called  on  Mr.  Gladstone, 
he  would  not  have  been  overpowered  if  politely 
asked  to  sit  down;  but  two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
ago  there  was  a  great  gulf  between  a  poet  and  a 
prime  minister. 

The  effect  on  French  society  and  literature  of 
the  traditions  that  came  down  from  the  Hotel 
Rambouillet  and  the  Palais  Cardinal  was  import- 
ant and  permanent.  A  century  and  a  half  later, 
Arthur  Young  contrasted  the  reception  that  was 
given  in  Paris  to  men  eminent  in  science  and  liter- 
ature, with  their  position  in  London.  These  rela- 
tions were  beneficial  to  all  parties.  A  liberal  infusion 
of  men  who  had  gained  distinction  by  their  intel- 
lectual gifts  helped  to  give  to  French  salons  and 
French  society  a  life  and  charm  which  contrasted 
with  the  dulness  of  aristocratic  society  in  Germany 
and  Spain.  The  social  recognition  enjoyed  by  men 
of  letters  enlarged  their  sphere  of  observation,  some- 
times improved  their  style,  and  often  improved  their 
manners. 

It  would  be  idle  to  claim  for  Richelieu  all  the 
credit  of  these  results,  but  some  of  it  is  justly  his 


3 1 8  Richelieu 

due.  At  a  time  when  men  of  letters  occupied  a 
very  uncertain  position,  he  not  only  bestowed  on 
them  his  patronage,  but  he  showed  pleasure  in  re- 
ceiving them  as  associates.  Before  his  time  there 
were  few  French  statesmen  whose  thresholds  were 
crossed  by  visitors  having  no  recommendation  save 
the  books  they  had  written.  A  troubadour  who 
sang  to  entertain  the  company  and  was  pleased  to 
eat  a  good  meal  with  the  domestics,  a  buffoon  who 
received  with  gratitude  the  piece  of  money  thrown 
to  him,  were  usually  the  only  representatives  of 
literature  whom  they  received. 

The  Cardinal's  position  was  so  conspicuous,  that 
even  princes  of  the  blood  sought  to  ally  themselves 
with  his  family.  The  Prince  of  Cond£  stood  next 
to  Louis's  brother  in  the  line  of  succession  ;  in  1632, 
neither  Louis  nor  Gaston  had  sons,  and  it  seemed 
not  improbable  that  the  Cond£s  might  sit  on  the 
French  throne.  A  few  years  before,  the  marriage 
of  the  future  Prince  of  Cond6  into  a  family  belong- 
ing to  the  provincial  nobility  of  Poitou  would  have 
seemed  preposterous,  but  now  the  Cardinal  could 
make  or  mar  the  fortunes  of  any  Frenchman,  how- 
ever elevated  in  rank,  and  Henry  II.  of  Cond6,  a 
prudent  prince,  with  a  keen  eye  for  the  main 
chance,  sought  a  bride  for  his  son  in  the  Cardinal's 
family.  As  early  as  1632,  he  applied  for  the  hand 
of  Richelieu's  niece,  Mile,  de  Brez£,  for  his  son  the 
Duke  of  Enghien.  She  was  then  a  child  of  four 
and  Enghien  was  only  twelve,  but  Cond£  was  stren- 
uous that  the  match  should  be  arranged  without 
delay.  The  prospect  of  an  alliance  with  the  royal 


Life  at  the  Palais  Cardinal  319 

family  surely  gratified  Richelieu's  pride,  yet  he 
considered  the  proposition  with  becoming  delibera- 
tion, and  it  was  at  last  agreed  to  as  a  favour  granted 
by  the  priest  at  the  solicitation  of  the  prince.  Nine 
years  later,  when  the  bride  was  only  thirteen,  the 
marriage  was  solemnised  with  infinite  pomp  at  the 
Palais  Cardinal.  Within  a  few  days,  Richelieu  saw 
his  niece  wedded  to  the  head  of  the  French  nobility 
and  his  play  of  Mirame  performed  amid  the  applause 
of  all  judicious  courtiers;  it  is  doubtful  from  which 
event  he  derived  the  greater  satisfaction. 

If  Cond6  had  been  eager  to  secure  the  advantages 
that  would  flow  from  a  family  alliance  with  the  man 
who  ruled  France,  his  son,  who  was  proud,  obstin- 
ate, and  headstrong,  viewed  the  matter  with  less 
favour.  His  bride  was  very  young  and  not  very 
attractive,  and  he  regarded  the  marriage  as  a  de- 
gradation to  one  of  his  rank,  in  which,  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  time,  he  was  not  far  wrong.  He 
soon  found  the  advantages  and  the  disadvantages  of 
having  a  prime  minister  for  an  uncle.  He  was  at 
once  given  an  important  position;  he  commanded 
an  army  in  the  field  when  little  over  twenty-one,  an 
age  at  which  most  men  would  be  pleased  to  receive 
a  commission  as  first  lieutenant. 

On  the  other  hand,  Richelieu  was  dictatorial  even 
in  matters  of  the  smallest  detail,  and  he  took  pleas- 
ure in  showing  that  he  expected  as  implicit  obedience 
from  a  prince  as  from  an  errand  boy.  He  regulated 
Enghien's  household,  and  lectured  him  with  vigour. 
Few  men  were  as  impatient  of  control  as  the  future 
hero  of  Rocroy,  but,  imperious  as  was  his  nature, 


320  Richelieu 

he  was  forced  to  yield  to  the  still  more  imperious 
Cardinal. 

At  times  their  controversies  became  fierce.  Cardi- 
nals claimed  precedence  over  princes,  and,  in  that 
age,  precedence  was  a  question  of  vital  importance. 
Enghien  was  willing  to  yield  to  Richelieu,  who  was 
not  only  a  cardinal,  but  prime  minister  and  a  great 
man.  But  Richelieu's  brother  was  a  very  common- 
place cardinal,  and  when  the  young  man  visited 
Lyons,  he  neglected  to  call,  contenting  himself  with 
sending  his  compliments. 

When  Richelieu  heard  of  this  mark  of  disrespect 
to  his  family,  his  rage  appalled  even  those  who  were 
familiar  with  his  outbursts.  He  did  more  than 
swear;  he  received  the  offending  duke  in  such  a 
manner  that  he  swallowed  his  pride,  took  the  jour- 
ney back  in  order  to  pay  his  respects  to  the  brother, 
and  dined  with  him,  so  his  attendant  writes,  with  a 
very  melancholy  mien. 

Richelieu  feared  that  the  ambitious  young  prince 
was  not  only  ready  to  be  uncivil  to  his  wife's  family, 
but  that,  so  soon  as  the  minister  died,  he  would 
endeavour  to  rid  himself  of  his  wife.  Such  doubt- 
less was  Enghien's  purpose,  but  he  had  to  deal  with 
a  man  who  allowed  no  trifling.  The  Duke  of 
Enghien  who  was  executed  under  Napoleon  was  a 
descendant  of  the  niece  of  Cardinal  Richelieu. 

Richelieu  had  two  brothers  and  two  sisters.  Henri 
du  Plessis  was  five  years  the  senior  of  the  future 
cardinal ;  he  inherited  the  family  traits,  was  adven- 
turous, bold,  prone  to  quarrel,  and  eager  to  push  his 
own  fortunes.  He  was  early  attached  to  the  Court 


PRINCE   OF  CONO£. 


Life  at  the  Palais  Cardinal  321 

and  there  attained  a  certain  influence;  when  the 
younger  brother  was  first  exploring  the  intricacies 
of  Court  politics,  Henri  was  able  to  be  of  some  as- 
sistance to  him.  But  the  showy  and  popular  soldier 
soon  became  a  person  of  secondary  importance  when 
compared  with  the  young  bishop.  He  did  not  live 
to  share  the  great  fortune  secured  for  the  family  of 
Richelieu.  In  1619,  when  the  Bishop  of  Lu^on  was 
in  semi-exile  with  the  Queen-mother,  Henri  had  a 
quarrel  with  the  Marquis  of  The"mines.  They  had 
no  ground  for  dispute  except  some  unfriendly  criti- 
cism, but  that  was  quite  enough  in  those  days.  They 
soon  found  an  opportunity,  and  fought  with  the 
ferocity  which  characterised  most  duels.  Th6mines 
at  last  drove  his  sword  through  the  heart  of  his 
opponent,  and  the  heir  of  the  house  of  Richelieu 
thus  met  his  end.  He  left  no  children,  and  as  the 
second  brother  was  a  monk  and  an  imbecile,  the 
Bishop  of  Lugon  became  the  head  of  the  family  and 
succeeded  to  the  family  estates,  which  were  indeed 
of  no  great  value. 

It  was  Alphonse,  the  second  brother,  who  felt 
conscientious  scruples  about  holding  the  see  of 
Lu$on,  and  retired  to  pious  obscurity  at  the  Grande 
Chartreuse.  There  he  would  have  spent  his  days  in 
tranquillity  had  it  not  been  for  the  extraordinary 
fortune  of  the  third  brother.  Family  feeling  was 
strong  in  the  Cardinal  and  he  obtained  for  Alphonse 
ecclesiastical  promotion,  for  which  he  was  little 
fitted  and  which  he  did  not  especially  desire.  The 
minister  took  the  would-be  monk  from  the  monas- 
tery, made  him  Archbishop  of  Aix,  and  afterward 


322  Richelieu 

Archbishop  of  Lyons,  and  finally  secured  his  pro- 
motion to  the  cardinalate.  Thus  two  brothers  were 
members  of  the  College  of  Cardinals,  a  thing  of  rare 
occurrence.  Mazarin  also  obtained  a  cardinal's  hat 
for  his  brother,  and  as  Mazarin  was  little  loved  at 
Rome  and  the  brother  very  unfit  for  the  place,  the 
dignity  was  only  procured  by  the  expenditure  of 
millions  of  French  money.  Little  could  be  said 
against  Richelieu's  brother  except  that  he  was  a 
fool,  and  his  promotion  was  secured  without  recourse 
to  any  unseemly  measures.  He  was  a  charitable 
man  and  made  a  respectable  bishop.  Occasion- 
ally his  eccentricities  developed  into  temporary 
insanity,  and  among  other  delusions  he  sometimes 
imagined  that  he  was  God  Almighty.  Notwith- 
standing such  vagaries  he  led  an  inoffensive  life, 
and  was  so  soon  forgotten  after  his  brother  had 
passed  away  that  his  death,  in  1653,  excited  almost 
as  little  attention  as  if,  instead  of  being  an  arch- 
bishop and  a  cardinal,  he  had  remained  a  monk  in 
the  Grande  Chartreuse. 

Richelieu  advanced  the  fortunes  of  his  kinsfolk, 
because  his  family  pride  was  strong,  and  he  wished 
that  those  in  whose  veins  ran  the  blood  of  the 
Richelieus  should  hold  a  place  among  the  great 
nobility  of  the  land.  For  his  niece,  Mme.  d'  Ai- 
guillon,  who  lived  with  him  during  the  days  of  his 
power,  he  had  a  sincere  affection;  apparently  he 
entertained  for  her  a  stronger  fondness  than  for  any 
other  human  being.  She  was  a  woman  of  beauty 
and  of  parts,  who  married  a  respectable  gentleman 
for  whom  she  had  little  affection.  He  was  presently 


Life  at  the  Palais  Cardinal  323 

killed,  and,  more  perhaps  from  the  fear  of  having  to 
marry  some  other  man  no  more  to  her  taste  than 
from  any  strong  devotion,  his  widow  took  refuge  in 
a  Carmelite  convent.  When  her  uncle  became 
prime  minister,  he  wished  her  to  share  his  home, 
and  this  prospect  was  not  displeasing  to  her.  A 
cardinal  can  usually  find  opinions  on  questions  of 
casuistry  to  suit  his  taste,  and  it  was  decided  by  the 
canonical  doctors  that  his  niece's  vows  were  not 
binding.  She  endowed  the  Carmelite  convent  and 
abandoned  it  for  the  Palais  Cardinal.  Her  uncle 
made  her  a  duchess  and  left  her  great  wealth,  and 
during  a  long  life  she  bore  herself  so  discreetly  that 
when  she  died,  thirty-three  years  after  the  Cardinal, 
Fleshier  was  able  to  celebrate  her  virtues  without 
deviating  from  the  paths  of  truth. 

His  niece  was  the  only  one  of  his  kinsfolk  for 
whom  the  Cardinal  manifested  any  great  affection, 
but  he  was  active  in  advancing  the  fortunes  of  the 
rest  of  his  family.  In  return  for  patronage  he  in- 
sisted on  tyrannising  over  them ;  if  he  dictated  the 
choice  of  servants  to  a  prince  of  the  blood  royal  who 
had  married  his  niece,  we  may  be  certain  that  he 
would  exact  obedience  from  those  of  his  own  blood, 
whose  only  hope  of  advancement  was  from  his  favour. 
For  the  most  part  they  were  submissive  to  his  will, 
and  from  the  vigour  with  which  he  berated  the  un- 
ruly, we  can  understand  the  terror  with  which  he 
was  regarded  by  all  who  had  dealings  with  him, 
from  the  King  down. 

His  correspondence  with  his  nephew,  Pont  Courlay. 
is  interesting,  not  only  from  the  light  it  throws  on 


324  Richelieu 

the  Cardinal's  character,  but  on  the  modes  of  life 
and  the  extravagances  of  many  French  nobles. 
Pont  Courlay  had  received  from  his  uncle  the  posi- 
tion of  general  of  the  galleys,  a  well-paid  office,  but 
his  expenses  exceeded  his  revenues,  and  no  Harpa- 
gon  could  scold  a  spendthrift  son  with  more  vigour 
than  the  Cardinal  lectured  his  unlucky  nephew. 
He  was  not  indeed  restricted  to  any  beggarly  state; 
his  allowance  of  servants  would  in  these  days  suffice 
for  a  prime  minister  or  a  millionaire.  What  is 
more  surprising  than  the  size  of  the  establishment 
is  that  Richelieu,  with  the  fate  of  France  depending 
on  him,  and  with  all  his  public  employments,  should 
have  had  the  time  and  the  inclination  to  regulate 
the  expenses  of  a  young  nobleman  with  more  care 
than  would  usually  be  given  by  a  prudent  father  or 
an  anxious  mother.  At  the  very  time  that  the 
Spanish  were  advancing  on  Corbie,  when  Paris  was 
in  danger  and  Richelieu's  political  existence  was  in 
peril  of  a  disastrous  ending,  he  regulated  in  detail 
the  modes  of  life  that  his  nephew  must  adopt.  He 
could  have  three  gentlemen  in  attendance,  including 
his  equerry,  two  secretaries,  three  valets  de  cJiambre, 
including  his  tailor  and  laundryman,  two  pages,  five 
lackeys,  a  steward,  a  cook,  a  kitchen  boy  with  an 
assistant,  a  coachman,  a  postillion,  two  grooms,  a 
muleteer,  and  a  Swiss.  Surely  this  was  a  suite  large 
enough  to  please  a  gentleman  fond  of  display,  and 
it  did  not  include  his  wife's  servants,  of  whom  the 
Cardinal  also  made  a  list.  To  her  he  allowed  four- 
teen servants,  including  her  own  coachman,  cook, 
butler,  and  lackey.  Only  four  of  her  attendants 


Life  at  the  Palais  Cardinal  325 

were  women,  which  shows  how  large  a  part  of 
domestic  service  was  then  performed  by  men.  But 
the  nephew  was  not  contented,  he  kept  a  great 
establishment,  he  ran  in  debt,  and  his  uncle  poured 
reproaches  upon  him.  Already  he  had  paid  the 
spendthrift's  debts,  and  he  wrote  him  that  this 
would  be  of  no  avail  unless  his  extravagances  were 
checked.  '  You  have  five  gentlemen  in  waiting  and 
six  secretaries;  if  you  need  so  many  you  must  have 
more  business  than  I,  for  I  have  never  had  more 
than  three.  You  have  six  valets  de  chambre,  and 
I  have  never  had  more  than  three."  '  You  will 
reduce  your  establishment  according  to  the  list  I 
have  sent,"  the  Cardinal  continues,  and  he  orders 
the  nephew  to  put  aside  each  month  three  thousand 
livres,  which  would  be  enough  for  his  table  and  his 
stable.  Presently  he  put  the  nephew's  affairs  in  the 
hands  of  two  guardians,  and  he  writes  again:  "  If 
you  don't  regulate  your  affairs  according  to  my 
orders,  you  can  seek  aid  in  the  future  where  you 
think  best,  and  we  shall  take  fit  measures  to  pre- 
serve what  we  can  for  your  wife  and  children." 
The  Cardinal  forgave  extravagant  nephews  no  more 
than  intriguing  courtiers;  it  was  a  mortal  offence  to 
oppose  his  will.  In  his  testament  the  nephew  was 
passed  by,  and  his  son  Armand  de  Vignerot,  the 
grand  nephew  of  Richelieu,  was  not  only  chosen  to 
inherit  the  title  and  the  largest  share  of  the  estate, 
but  he  also  replaced  his  father  in  the  position  of 
general  of  the  galleys. 

There  was  no  detail  in  the  affairs  of  strangers,  any 
more  than  of  his  own  family,  in  which  the  Cardinal 


326  Richelieu 

declined  to  interest  himself;  he  found  time  to  at- 
tend to  the  odds  and  ends  of  a  paternal  government. 
A  lawless  young  officer  with  a  band  of  retainers 
seized  a  young  lady  in  her  own  house  and  carried 
her  off.  The  mother  did  not  go  to  the  police,  she 
sent  her  tale  of  woe  directly  to  the  prime  minister, 
and  he  himself  despatched  a  letter  to  the  offender, 
bidding  him  at  once  to  restore  the  maiden  or  incur 
his  severest  displeasure.  Such  an  order  was  promptly 
obeyed,  for  no  one  dared  to  trifle  with  the  Cardinal. 
The  young  lady  was  returned  to  her  mother's  charge, 
none  the  worse  for  her  adventure,  and  the  officer 
continued  in  the  service,  apparently  with  his  reputa- 
tion unaffected  by  his  escapade. 

The  Cardinal's  elder  brother  left  no  offspring,  the 
second  brother  was  a  priest,  and  Richelieu  was  forced 
to  seek  for  heirs  among  his  sister's  children.  The 
Marquis  of  Br£ze",  a  gentleman  of  good  family  and 
fair  ability,  married  one  of  Richelieu's  sisters  when 
he  was  an  unimportant  bishop  of  the  little  diocese  of 
Lu£on,  but  the  alliance  proved  more  advantageous 
than  the  most  flattering  soothsayer  would  have  dared 
to  predict.  When  Richelieu  attained  to  power,  he 
took  the  fortunes  of  his  brother-in-law  in  charge; 
Br6z£  was  made  captain  of  the  guard,  a  marshal  of 
France,  the  governor  of  Anjou,  and  afterwards  of 
Brittany.  His  son  was  selected  by  the  Cardinal  as  one 
of  his  legatees,  and  on  him  were  bestowed  the  duchy  of 
Fronsac  and  numerous  other  possessions.  When  a 
very  young  man  he  was  made  admiral  of  France  and 
a  great  career  seemed  before  him,  but  at  the  age  of 
twenty-seven  he  was  killed  at  the  siege  of  Orbitello. 


Life  at  the  Palais  Cardinal  327 

Armand  de  Vignerot  de  Pont  Courlay  was  chosen 
to  bear  the  title  and  perpetuate  the  name  of  Riche- 
lieu. His  descendants  at  least  kept  the  name  from 
becoming  only  an  historical  recollection.  Marshal 
Richelieu  was  one  of  the  best  known  men  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  not  only  in  France  but  in 
Europe.  He  was  also  one  of  the  most  despicable 
of  characters,  a  professional  Lothario,  vain,  corrupt, 
greedy,  and  false.  Yet,  though  he  was  a  poor 
soldier,  an  inconstant  lover,  and  an  empty  braggart, 
Marshal  Richelieu  was  always  popular;  there  was  a 
certain  audacity  about  the  man  that  attracted  the 
public;  wit  he  had  in  abundance;  he  led  a  long  and 
unworthy  career  of  fourscore  years,  beloved  by 
women,  admired  by  men,  and  favoured  by  his 
sovereign. 

His  grandson  was  of  a  different  type;  less  bril- 
liant than  his  ancestor,  he  did  honourable  work  for 
France  and  for  humanity. 

The  fortunes  of  another  branch  of  Richelieu's 
family  possess  a  certain  interest.  Marshal  la  Mail- 
leraie  was  Richelieu's  cousin  on  the  mother's  side, 
and  attained  to  prominence  and  wealth  by  the 
Cardinal's  favour.  Many  years  later,  when  Mazarin 
came  to  select  a  husband  for  the  niece  to  whom  he 
proposed  to  leave  the  bulk  of  his  enormous  wealth, 
he  was  embarrassed  in  the  choice.  There  were 
many  suitors  for  the  greatest  heiress  in  Europe,  the 
favourite  niece  of  the  minister  who  ruled  France. 
Charles  II.  was  refused  because  he  was  an  exile ;  the 
heir  of  the  Courtenays  who  once  sat  on  the  throne 
of  Constantinople  was  refused  because  he  was  too 


328  Richelieu 

poor;  and  of  less  illustrious  aspirants  there  was  no 
end.  Mazarin  at  last  selected  the  young  Mailleraie, 
and  it  is  not  impossible  that  he  was  in  part  influenced 
by  a  wish  to  ally  his  family  with  that  of  the  Cardinal 
who  had  been  his  patron  and  his  exemplar. 

It  was  not  a  fortunate  choice.  The  husband  was 
little  better  than  a  lunatic,  the  wife  had  the  wild 
blood  of  the  Mancini  in  her  veins;  he  would  have 
exhausted  the  patience  of  the  most  enduring  of 
spouses,  she  would  have  destroyed  the  peace  of  the 
most  judicious  of  husbands.  Naturally,  their  house- 
hold came  to  grief.  The  Duchess  of  Mazarin  fled 
from  France;  she  had  refused  to  marry  Charles  II. 
when  he  was  a  fugitive,  and  she  became  his  mistress 
when  he  was  a  king.  The  duke  divided  his  energies 
between  daubing  over  famous  paintings  left  by 
Mazarin,  in  order  to  conceal  nudities  that  were 
offensive  to  his  rigorous  piety,  and  wasting  his 
estate  in  hundreds  of  lawsuits  which  a  perverse 
ingenuity  enabled  him  to  stir  up.  The  union  of  the 
families  of  Richelieu  and  Mazarin  produced  only 
misery  and  scandal. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE   RESULTS   OF   RICHELIEU'S  ADMINISTRATION 

WHAT  manner  of  man  Richelieu  was  appears 
in  the  record  of  his  life.  His  intellect 
though  acute  was  not  original,  his  charac- 
ter though  vigorous  was  not  exalted.  Yet  he  gained 
a  position  in  the  world,  an  influence  in  the  politics 
of  his  own  country  and  of  Europe,  such  as  is  rarely 
held  by  anyone  not  born  to  a  throne,  and  not  often 
by  an  hereditary  sovereign.  Among  the  great 
statesmen  France  has  produced,  among  the  acute 
and  ambitious  cardinals  and  bishops  who  have  held 
high  political  office,  Richelieu  occupies  a  place  by 
himself;  he  was  sagacious  in  his  policy,  tireless  in 
his  activity,  and  remorseless  in  his  animosities. 

He  possessed  various  qualities  which  excite  ad- 
miration. A  man  of  great  courage,  he  was  never 
turned  from  his  path  by  the  machinations  of  ene- 
mies, never  discouraged  by  difficulties  or  failures;  he 
bore  calamities  with  firmness,  and  would  not  make 
peace  without  honour  so  long  as  he  could  borrow 
money  to  buy  guns  or  had  men  left  to  fire  them. 
Such  dauntless  resolution  is  the  more  admirable 

329 


33O  Richelieu 

when  found  in  a  sickly  and  diseased  body.  This 
weakly  valetudinarian  was  as  firm  in  his  purpose 
as  if  he  possessed  the  vigour  of  a  centaur,  as  undis- 
turbed in  adversity  and  danger  as  if  he  had  nerves 
of  steel. 

With  these  heroic  traits  were  mingled  many  weak- 
nesses. The  Cardinal  loved  pomp  and  splendour; 
he  had  none  of  the  elevation  of  mind  which  disdains 
the  insignia  of  State  and  the  trappings  of  wealth. 
He  was  a  vain  man,  fond  of  applause;  he  found 
pleasure  not  only  in  well-earned  tributes  to  his 
achievements  as  a  statesman,  but  in  the  praises 
lavished  by  hungry  poets  and  obsequious  retainers 
on  the  poor  rhymes  he  wrote  and  the  second-rate 
plays  which  he  indited. 

The  subtlety  of  his  character  was  perhaps  neces- 
sary in  the  atmosphere  of  deceit  and  plots  in  which 
he  lived,  but,  while  cunning  may  be  a  serviceable 
quality,  it  is  not  an  heroic  quality.  Imperious 
when  he  held  power,  he  was  obsequious  when  he 
sought  it ;  no  one  flattered  the  great  more  adroitly 
when  he  was  himself  a  person  of  small  account.  If 
his  treatment  of  Louis  XIII.  was  required  in  order 
to  preserve  his  influence  over  that  vacillating  mon- 
arch, it  showed  the  skill  of  an  adroit  courtier  rather 
than  the  simple  frankness  of  a  strong  nature. 

One  can  trace  points  of  resemblance  between  the 
great  Cardinal  and  the  great  Commoner.  Like  the 
first  Pitt,  Richelieu  was  always  dramatic;  he  posed 
for  the  public  and  for  all  who  had  dealings  with  him. 
His  position  as  a  prince  of  the  Church  forbade, 
perhaps,  simple  and  unceremonious  relations  with 


Results  of  Richelieu  s  Administration      331 

ordinary  mortals,  but  neither  were  they  to  his  taste. 
He  wished  to  live  in  magnificent  palaces,  to  be  sur- 
rounded by  numerous  retainers,  to  be  addressed 
with  fitting  deference.  Sitting  in  his  palace  in 
princely  state,  clothed  in  the  red  robes  of  his  office, 
he  was  an  imposing  spectacle,  and  such  he  loved  to 
be.  The  taste  for  display  is  often  the  mark  of  a 
weak  mind,  yet  both  Chatham  and  Richelieu  were 
fond  of  it,  and  no  one  would  question  their  great- 
ness. 

If  the  Cardinal  attached  to  outward  trappings 
somewhat  more  weight  than  they  deserved,  this  was 
not  a  matter  of  great  importance.  His  implacabil- 
ity, what  his  enemies  called  his  bloody-mindedness, 
has  been  regarded  as  a  more  serious  defect  in  his 
character.  He  was  indeed  a  cold  man,  unwavering 
in  his  animosities  and  merciless  in  punishment;  his 
charities  were  few  and  far  between,  he  was  not 
tender-hearted,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  he  was  greatly 
disturbed  either  by  individual  suffering  or  by  general 
conditions  of  distress.  In  this  he  resembled  most 
other  men.  There  are  few,  indeed,  like  St.  Francis 
de  Sales,  who  devote  their  lives  to  increasing  the 
happiness  of  others  and  to  lessening  the  burden  of 
human  woe. 

By  his  profession,  Richelieu  was  largely  cut  off 
from  family  ties.  He  lived  in  an  arena  of  political 
intrigue.  He  was  absorbed  in  his  ambition;  he  be- 
lieved that  his  enemies  were  the  enemies  of  the 
State,  and  so  they  were ;  he  was  disturbed  by  no 
compunction  when  he  visited  upon  them  the  sever- 
est penalties  for  their  misdeeds.  The  people  thought 


332  Richelieu 

that  the  minister  gave  little  heed  to  their  sufferings, 
and  they  were  probably  right  in  this  opinion.  The 
Cardinal  sat  in  his  great  palace,  so  they  declared, 
surrounded  by  splendour  for  which  they  had  paid, 
planning  campaigns  and  plotting  the  ruin  of  his 
enemies,  with  little  thought  of  those  upon  whom 
fell  the  burden  of  war  and  taxation,  and  who  gained 
from  it  neither  benefit  nor  glory. 

Richelieu  was  hated  by  his  contemporaries  of  high 
and  low  estate,  but  a  man's  character  may  be  un- 
amiable  and  his  policy  costly,  and  still  the  results  of 
his  career  may  advance  the  interests  of  the  country 
whose  servant  he  is.  Such  would  have  been  his 
reply  if  anyone  had  had  the  temerity  to  say  to  his 
face  that  in  their  hatred  of  him  peer  and  peasant 
were  on  terms  of  perfect  equality. 

The  character  of  the  minister  was  complex  be- 
yond the  ordinary  measure  of  human  nature.  His 
enemies  denounced  the  false  priest  who  betrayed 
the  interests  of  the  Church,  who  was  lax  in  the 
observances  of  its  practices,  and  disregarded  the 
morality  it  taught;  they  reviled  the  cruel  minister 
who  packed  courts  in  order  to  condemn  his  enemies, 
and  sent  to  the  block  gallant  officers  and  high- 
minded  noblemen ;  who  drove  his  benefactress  into 
exile  and  made  the  King  his  puppet;  who  accumu- 
lated enormous  wealth,  while  the  peasant  starved  in 
his  hovel ;  who,  in  all  questions  of  Church  and  State, 
considered  only  the  preservation  of  his  power  and 
the  satisfaction  of  his  ambition. 

On  the  other  hand,  his  admirers  pointed  to  the 
great  achievements  of  his  career:  disorder  was 


Results  of  Richelieu's  Administration      333 

repressed,  the  law  was  enforced,  fraud  and  pillage 
were  checked  ;  France  had  never  known  so  vigorous 
an  administration  at  home,  she  had  never  exercised 
such  influence  abroad;  her  armies  were  victorious, 
her  territories  were  increased,  she  controlled  the 
destinies  of  Europe.  The  statesman  by  whom  such 
things  were  accomplished  was  surely  a  great  man. 

That  he  was  a  kindly  man,  or  a  merciful  man,  or 
a  lovable  man  was  said  by  neither  friend  nor  foe. 
The  axe  fell  so  often  on  persons  of  high  degree  that 
when  Marshal  Saint  Geran  was  on  his  death-bed  in 
1632,  he  said  to  those  around  him:  "  They  will  not 
recognise  me  in  the  other  world,  for  it  is  a  long  time 
since  a  marshal  of  France  has  gone  there  with  a 
head  on  his  shoulders." 

With  everyone  who  plays  a  great  part  in  the 
world,  the  question  arises  as  to  the  permanence  of 
his  work:  have  the  results  affected  posterity  and 
modified  national  and  social  development  ?  In  the 
administrative  system  of  France  we  can  still  find 
traces  of  Richelieu's  influence.  It  was  his  policy 
to  concentrate  the  power  of  the  Government;  he 
did  not  believe  in  the  division  of  authority  or  in 
local  self-rule.  In  this  there  was  indeed  nothing 
new,  but  under  Richelieu  centralisation  became  the 
recognised  and  established  theory  of  French  govern- 
ment. Louis  XIV.  perfected  what  the  Cardinal 
had  designed,  and  the  tendency  thus  given  French 
administration  has  been  permanent.  The  present 
French  system  rests  on  the  basis  established  by  the 
genius  of  Napoleon,  but  he  followed  in  the  beaten 
paths  of  the  old  rtfgime. 


334  Richelieu 

Not  only  was  Richelieu's  work  permanent  in  its 
character,  but  it  was  wholesome  at  the  time.  The 
value  of  local  institutions  is  indeed  great,  but  on 
French  soil  they  had  no  vigorous  growth.  The 
local  states,  the  city  governments,  the  organisations, 
half  political,  half  commercial,  which  Richelieu  over- 
threw rested  on  privilege,  and  possessed  little  pos- 
sibility of  useful  development. 

Still  less  did  he  overthrow  any  useful  check  on 
arbitrary  power  when  he  repressed  the  independent 
authority  of  the  great  nobles;  what  he  destroyed 
was  not  liberty,  but  license.  In  the  regency  of 
Mary  de'  Medici  we  can  see  the  nobility,  the  Pro- 
testants, the  local  political  bodies,  unchecked  by  the 
general  government.  The  results  were  not  bene- 
ficial to  the  public  weal.  The  country  was  distracted 
by  civil  war,  the  land  was  full  of  marauders,  trade 
was  disturbed,  the  merchant  could  not  be  sure  of 
selling  his  goods,  the  peasant  could  not  be  sure  of 
gathering  his  crops;  France  enjoyed  neither  pro- 
sperity at  home  nor  consideration  abroad. 

In  the  years  preceding  his  ministry,  an  unruly 
nobility,  unfit  to  exercise  control  and  unwilling  to 
suffer  restraint,  plundered  the  State  when  in  power 
and  ravaged  the  country  when  in  disgrace.  From 
a  bankrupt  treasury,  a  paralysed  monarchy,  and  a 
turbulent  nobility  we  turn  to  Richelieu's  adminis- 
tration and  find  a  government  influential  and  strong, 
we  exchange  anarchy  and  misrule  for  peace  and 
order.  His  hand  was  laid  heavily  on  those  who 
opposed  him,  but  he  procured  for  the  country 
the  blessings  of  an  orderly  and  well  -  regulated 


Results  of  Richelieu' s  Administration      335 

government;  every  man  was  secure  in  his  own,  the 
law  protected  the  citizen,  the  fields  brought  forth 
their  increase,  and  the  husbandman  gathered  into 
his  barns,  undisturbed  by  foreign  foes  or  internal 
marauders. 

To  Richelieu  is  given  the  praise  or  blame  of  cast- 
ing in  a  definite  mould  the  character  of  the  French 
government,  the  forms  of  administration,  and  the 
tendencies  of  national  growth.  The  judgment 
passed  upon  his  work  varies  with  the  political  be- 
liefs of  the  judge  and  his  reading  of  French  history. 
The  Cardinal  imparted  vigour  to  the  administration, 
he  resisted  the  lawlessness  of  the  great  nobles,  he 
checked  the  insubordination  of  the  Huguenots,  the 
authority  of  the  King  became  unquestioned  and  un- 
controlled. As  a  result,  France  assumed  a  leading 
position  among  the  great  powers,  the  way  was  pre- 
pared for  the  supremacy  of  Louis  XIV.  in  European 
politics,  and  for  important  accessions  to  French 
territory. 

But  the  question  remains,  whether  different  tend- 
encies could  have  been  given  to  national  growth, 
whether  a  government  could  have  been  formed 
possessing  vigour,  yet  restrained  by  law;  whether 
liberty  could  have  been  obtained  without  the  need 
of  revolution,  and  the  country  have  gained  its  glory 
at  a  less  price. 

Richelieu  found  French  politics  in  a  condition 
where  a  strong  man  could  greatly  modify  their  de- 
velopment. Under  Louis  XIV.,  even  throwing  out 
of  consideration  the  personal  character  of  the  mon- 
arch, it  was  too  late;  the  die  had  been  cast,  the 


336  Richelieu 

form  of  government  was  fixed,  and  to  alter  it  would 
have  been  beyond  the  power  of  any  one  man.  It  was 
not  so  at  the  close  of  Henry  IV.'s  reign.  Though 
the  States  -  General  of  1614  accomplished  little, 
we  are  surprised  to  find  how  often  they  demanded 
reforms  of  which  time  was  to  show  the  wisdom  and 
the  necessity.  Their  representatives  asked  that 
judicial  offices  should  no  longer  be  sold ;  they  de- 
manded a  reduction  of  taxation  and  of  pensions,  and 
the  abolition  of  duties  between  different  provinces. 
They  sought  to  restrain  governmental  interference 
in  trade,  they  asked  for  liberty  of  commerce  and 
manufacture,  for  a  uniform  system  of  weights  and 
measures,  and  most  important  of  all,  they  demanded 
that  at  least  once  in  ten  years  the  States-General 
should  be  convened. 

They  were  not  convened  by  Richelieu,  and  it  was 
not  strange.  He  had  himself  been  a  member  of  the 
States-General  of  1614,  and  had  been  a  witness  of 
the  impotence  of  that  body.  He  felt  the  contempt 
of  a  man  of  clear  purpose  and  strong  will  for  their 
uncertain  and  varying  moods;  he  believed  that 
great  results  could  be  produced,  not  by  the  com- 
bined wisdom  or  lack  of  wisdom  of  a  representative 
body,  but  by  the  sagacity  and  determination  of  one 
man.  That  political  safety  might  lie  in  a  gradual 
preparation  of  the  people  to  express  their  own  will 
and  control  their  own  destiny,  was  an  idea  outside 
of  Richelieu's  range  of  conception.  His  intellect 
was  powerful,  but  narrow.  He  did  good  work  for 
the  State,  but  to  conceive  political  changes  that 
might  secure  for  France  the  glory  of  the  seventeenth 


Results  of  Richelieu  s  Administration      337 

century  without  involving  her  in  the  ignominy  of 
the  eighteenth  century  was  beyond  his  ken. 

For  the  opinion  of  the  multitude  he  felt  a  con- 
tempt which  he  did  not  conceal.  "  Nothing  is 
more  dangerous,"  he  wrote,  "  than  to  pay  atten- 
tion to  popular  clamour.  .  .  .  The  force  of 
reason  should  be  our  only  guide."  By  reason 
Richelieu  meant  his  own  judgment,  and  in  a  simi- 
lar way  this  word  was  interpreted  by  his  success- 
ors. If  infallibility  were  always  found  in  rulers, 
this  might  be  well.  But  when  the  head  of  a  cen- 
tralised government  was  an  indolent  voluptuary 
like  Louis  XV.,  and  enormous  power  was  in- 
trusted to  corrupt  and  inefficient  ministers,  the  re- 
sults were  disastrous. 

In  Richelieu's  day,  there  was  no  ambiguity  in 
the  assertion  of  the  absolute  and  uncontrolled 
authority  of  the  monarch.  "A  monarchical  state," 
said  an  edict  of  1641,  "  can  allow  no  division  of 
authority.  .  .  .  The  power  lodged  in  the  person 
of  the  King  is  the  source  of  the  monarchy's  great- 
ness, the  foundation  on  which  its  preservation  rests." 
"  Kings,"  said  Richelieu,  "  are  the  living  images  of 
God.  .  .  .  The  royal  majesty  is  second  to  the 
Divine  Majesty."  "  The  first  thing  I  considered," 
he  said  further,  speaking  of  his  policy  as  a  minister, 
"  was  the  majesty  of  the  King,  the  second  was  the 
greatness  of  the  kingdom."  '  I  owe  no  account  of 
my  actions  or  the  administration  of  my  State  save 
to  God  alone,"  wrote  Louis  XIII.  Louis  XIV. 
carried  these  maxims  only  a  little  further.  '  Kings 
are  absolute  masters,"  he  wrote  his  son.  It  is  the 


338  Richelieu 

will  of  God  that  he  who  is  born  a  subject  should 
render  an  unquestioning  obedience." 

This  was  the  theory  which  Richelieu  maintained, 
and  such  became  the  accepted  theory  of  French 
government.  It  was  not  novel,  but  in  the  past  it 
had  been  stated  with  less  precision  and  had  been 
applied  with  less  energy.  James  I.  of  England  laid 
down  principles  of  monarchical  authority  that  would 
have  been  accepted  by  Louis  XIV.,  but  they  were 
the  empty  vagaries  of  a  pedant.  In  France  not  only 
were  they  advanced,  but  they  were  tranquilly  ac- 
cepted by  the  people  of  the  country. 

The  peaceable  acceptance  by  the  French  people 
of  the  tenets  of  absolute  monarchy  was  largely  due 
to  the  success  of  the  monarchy  in  its  foreign  policy. 
When  French  armies  were  winning  great  victories 
and  new  provinces  were  added  to  the  kingdom, 
there  was  little  danger  of  any  serious  discontent 
with  the  form  of  government.  The  foreign  policy 
of  Richelieu  was  in  the  highest  degree  sagacious; 
it  was  implicitly  followed  by  Mazarin,  it  was  followed 
by  Louis  XIV.  during  his  earlier  years  of  success 
and  glory.  Only  in  the  disasters  that  attended  the 
close  of  Louis  XIV. 's  reign,  and  amid  the  igno- 
minies of  Louis  XV. 'scarcer,  did  the  French  people 
begin  to  weary  of  the  Government  under  which 
they  lived. 

Richelieu's  ideal  was  a  submissive  people  ruled  by 
an  absolute  monarch.  Thus  he  believed  the  forces 
of  the  State  could  best  be  exercised,  and  its  influ- 
ence in  Europe  become  most  extensive.  In  this, 
perhaps,  he  was  right.  For  two  centuries  France 


Results  of  Richelieu  s  Administration      339 

was  the  leading  power  of  the  continent;  a  highly 
centralised  government  followed  a  policy  of  aggrand- 
isement that  would  not  have  been  pursued  with  the 
same  steadiness  and  sagacity  by  a  nation  in  which 
popular  institutions  existed. 

Not  often  has  one  man  so  absorbed  every  phase 
of  government.  An  historian  says:  "  Mary  de' 
Medici,  Louis  XIII.,  all  the  parties  of  the  Court, 
were  effaced  before  the  personality  of  Richelieu. 
.  .  .  He  put  in  movement  or  paralysed  all  politi- 
cal forces,  for  his  own  profit."  He  dominated  the 
King,  he  regulated  the  development  of  the  Church, 
he  decided  on  peace  and  war,  he  modified  internal 
institutions,  he  sought  to  control  the  progress  of 
literature  and  the  administration  of  the  law;  for 
twenty  years  the  social  and  political  life  of  France 
seemed  bound  up  in  one  imperious,  untiring  man. 

The  permanence  of  Richelieu's  work  shows  that 
it  was  in  accord  with  national  tendencies  and  the 
conditions  of  the  times.  It  is  the  test  of  a  states- 
man that  his  creations  endure;  the  influence  of 
Richelieu  upon  French  government  continued  for 
almost  two  centuries  and  was  by  no  means  destroyed 
even  by  the  great  cataclysm  of  the  Revolution.  The 
mob  paraded  the  head  of  the  great  Cardinal  on  a 
pole  in  brutal  triumph,  but  the  theory  of  centralised 
government,  which  he  did  so  much  to  perfect  and 
which  alone,  as  he  believed,  could  render  France 
great,  did  not  perish  in  the  French  Revolution. 

It  is  perhaps  an  idle  pastime  to  say  what  might 
have  been  the  results  of  Richelieu's  career  if  he  had 
been  actuated  by  different  purposes.  So  great  was 


34O  Richelieu 

his  power  that  he  could  have  wrought  changes  that 
later  would  have  been  difficult,  if  not  impossible. 
Though  local  institutions  were  already  much  weak- 
ened, he  might  have  given  them  new  vigour  instead 
of  completing  their  ruin.  Instead  of  sending  out 
superintendents  who  should  gather  into  their  own 
hands  all  matters  of  local  administration,  he  might 
have  educated  town  and  city  officials  for  an  intel- 
ligent performance  of  their  duties.  But  the  task 
would  not  have  been  an  easy  one;  local  officers 
would  probably  have  been  worse  administrators 
than  the  direct  representatives  of  the  general  govern- 
ment, and  it  would  have  been  a  slow  and  difficult 
process  to  educate  any  large  proportion  of  the  popu- 
lation to  take  an  intelligent  interest  in  their  own 
affairs.  The  mass  of  the  French  people  were  little 
better  fitted  for  the  duties  of  citizenship  than  were 
the  negroes  of  the  South  at  the  close  of  the  Civil 
War.  Richelieu's  statesmanship  must  be  judged  by 
the  conditions  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  not 
by  those  of  the  nineteenth. 

It  was  indeed  possible  to  ameliorate  the  condition 
of  the  French  people.  Methods  of  taxation  could 
have  been  improved.  Trade  and  commerce  could 
have  been  relieved  from  onerous  restrictions;  the 
burdens  could  have  been  lightened  which  made  the 
peasant's  lot  miserable  and  rendered  any  consider- 
able improvement  in  his  fortunes  almost  hopeless. 

Yet  perhaps  the  worst  evil  from  which  the  coun- 
try suffered  was  internal  disorder;  this  Richelieu 
checked  and  he  made  it  easy  for  Louis  XIV.  to 
secure  for  his  subjects  the  blessing  of  undisturbed 


Results  of  Richelieu's  Administration      341 

tranquillity,  to  sweep  away  the  last  traces  of  feudal 
and  mediaeval  lawlessness. 

The  dangers  that  resulted  from  the  centralisation 
of  authority  in  one  man  were  illustrated  after  Riche- 
lieu's death.  The  controlling  hand  was  taken  away. 
The  Cardinal  had  not  created  institutions  which 
would  continue  in  harmonious  operation  although 
he  was  not  there  to  guide  them;  all  authority  had 
emanated  from  him  alone,  and,  when  he  was  gone, 
an  era  of  confusion  followed.  The  disturbances  of 
the  Fronde  might  have  cost  France  all  the  conquests 
which  had  been  acquired  by  the  expenditure  of  so 
much  blood  and  money  during  the  Thirty  Years' 
War. 

Richelieu's  influence  upon  the  administration  of 
justice  was  injurious.  It  is  not  strange  that  he  was 
impatient  of  the  attempts  made  by  the  courts  to 
restrain  the  political  action  of  the  Government. 
While  it  is  hard  to  say  how  the  problem  of  provid- 
ing France  with  more  liberal  institutions  could  have 
been  worked  out,  it  is  certain  that  judges  holding  life 
positions,  which  they  acquired  by  purchase,  could 
never  have  formed  a  serviceable  legislative  body 
or  exercised  a  useful  check  on  the  royal  authority. 

Richelieu's  offence  was  not  that  he  browbeat  the 
judges  when  they  sought  to  combine  legislative  with 
judicial  functions,  but  that  he  constantly  interfered 
with  their  legitimate  action.  He  organised  a  special 
court  for  the  trial  of  every  man  of  prominence  who 
was  charged  with  treason  against  the  State  or  the 
Cardinal.  There  was  no  necessity  for  this.  It 
would  have  been  possible  to  obtain  convictions  of 


34 2  Richelieu 

rebels  like  Montmorenci,  or  of  traitors  like  Cinq- 
Mars,  from  the  regularly  organised  courts.  If  occa- 
sionally some  enemy  of  the  Cardinal's  had  escaped 
the  full  punishment  which  the  minister  desired  to 
visit  upon  him,  no  great  harm  would  have  been 
done.  In  no  department  was  the  arbitrary  power 
of  the  French  King  more  injudiciously  exercised 
than  in  dealing  with  political  offenders.  It  was  so 
easy  and  pleasant  to  ensure  the  punishment  of  men 
disagreeable  to  the  Government  by  appointing 
judges  who  would  promptly  condemn  them,  that 
the  evil  example  set  by  Richelieu  was  certain  to  be 
followed.  Down  to  the  time  of  the  Revolution, 
arbitrary  arrests,  accompanied  by  arbitrary  imprison- 
ment, and  often  followed  by  arbitrary  punishment, 
were  fixed  institutions  in  French  government  ; 
nothing  was  more  offensive  to  the  public,  or  in  the 
long  run  more  dangerous  to  the  stability  of  the 
monarchy. 

In  his  zeal  to  punish  his  enemies,  the  Cardinal  re- 
sorted to  methods  of  evil  precedent-  The  creation 
of  special  courts,  and  the  convictions  obtained  with- 
out evidence  worthy  of  the  name,  did  permanent 
harm  to  the  development  of  French  jurisprudence. 
The  sanctity  of  the  law,  the  strict  observance  of  its 
forms  for  those  of  high  as  well  as  of  low  estate,  have 
been  of  vast  importance  in  the  growth  of  the  Eng- 
lish constitution.  In  France  justice  has  been  less 
secure,  and  the  evils  of  this  have  been  seen  in 
our  own  day,  as  well  as  in  the  times  of  Richelieu. 
'  In  conspiracy,"  wrote  the  Cardinal,  "  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  have  mathematical  proofs,  and  when 


Results  of  Richelieu  s  Administration      343 

the  circumstances   are  pressing,  other  proofs  must 
take  their  place." 

'  Even  if  one  does  a  little  too  much,"  he  writes 
again,  "  no  inconvenience  results  and  security  is 
assured ;  for  fear  is  the  thing  which  is  most  likely 
to  dissipate  cabals."  A  commission  was  appointed 
to  try  or  rather  to  condemn  Marshal  Marillac,  but 
it  delayed  the  conviction  and  thereupon  Richelieu 
dissolved  it  and  chose  a  new  commission.  "  It  is 
necessary  to  be  careful  in  selecting  the  judges,"  he 
wrote.  The  care  was  exercised,  and  a  speedy  con- 
viction ensued,  but  such  trials  bring  the  administra- 
tion of  justice  into  disrepute.  The  Cardinal  viewed 
this  procedure  with  satisfaction.  He  writes,  "  I  will 
cut  the  nails  of  those  against  whom  we  must  be  on 
guard  so  short  that  their  ill-will  will  be  harmless." 
He  kept  his  word. 

In  Richelieu's  foreign  policy  there  was  little  to 
criticise.  He  involved  France  in  the  Thirty  Years' 
War  to  prevent  Austria  from  becoming  supreme  in 
Germany,  but  he  entertained  a  well-founded  hope 
that  French  success  would  be  rewarded  by  important 
accessions  to  French  territory.  The  long  war  was 
sure  to  change  the  boundaries  and  relations  of  many 
states ;  Sweden  demanded  territorial  aggrandisement 
as  a  compensation  for  her  victories;  France  was 
justified  in  making  similar  demands,  and  was  better 
able  to  enforce  their  satisfaction. 

The  growth  of  French  power  in  the  seventeenth      v, 
century  was,  perhaps,  the  most  important  result  of     / 
Richelieu's  administration.     The  sixteenth  century 
witnessed    little   change   in   the   boundaries  of  the 


344  Richelieu 

French  kingdom ;  during  most  of  the  time  the 
country  was  involved  in  internal  strife,  wars  of  re- 
ligion and  wars  of  succession,  and  was  in  no  condi- 
tion to  make  important  gains  at  the  expense  of  other 
nations.  The  Spanish  empire  was  then  at  the  height 
of  its  power;  when  Philip  II.  ruled  at  Madrid  and 
Henry  III.  ruled  at  Paris,  an  intelligent  observer 
would  have  thought  it  more  likely  that  Spain  would 
secure  acquisitions  from  France,  than  that  the  pos- 
sessions of  that  great  state  would  be  wrested  from 
it  by  what  seemed  a  weaker  rival.  But  there  were 
elements  of  weakness  and  dissolution  in  the  Spanish 
empire,  while  the  French  kingdom  contained  pos- 
sibilities of  development  that  soon  rendered  it  the 
greatest  power  in  Europe. 

Except  for  the  assistance  given  to  the  Nether- 
lands, the  reign  of  Henry  IV.  was  for  the  most  part 
occupied  with  the  restoration  of  order  and  the  de- 
velopment of  internal  prosperity.  Under  Richelieu, 
France  made  her  formal  entry  as  the  principal  actor 
in  the  field  of  continental  politics;  the  policy  which 
he  inaugurated  was  continued  by  Mazarin  and  Louis 
XIV.,  and  produced  results  of  permanent  import- 
ance. 

"  I  wished  to  restore  to  Gaul  the  limits  which 
nature  designed  for  her  ...  to  identify  Gaul 
with  France,"  it  was  thus  the  Cardinal  stated  his 
policy  of  expansion.  He  left  the  task  unfinished, 
little  new  territory  was  ceded  to  France  during  his 
lifetime,  but  the  work  had  been  designed  and  others 
carried  it  to  completion. 

It  was  to  the  east  and  north,  and  in  the  direction 


Resiilts  of  Richelieu  s  Administration      345 

of  the  Rhine,  that  French  ambition  chiefly  turned. 
The  identification  of  France  with  Gaul,  the  claim  of 
the  Rhine  as  an  ancient  boundary,  was  the  justifica- 
tion of  these  aspirations,  but,  on  better  grounds 
than  history  misread,  it  might  be  argued  that  the 
Rhine  was  a  dividing  line  placed  by  nature  between 
great  nations;  that  this  river,  with  the  Alps  and  the 
Pyrenees,  would  form  naturalr'boundaries  and  guard 
the  country  against  invasion-  from  any  quarter. 

The  decay  of  the  Spanish  kingdom  had  already 
begun,  and,  even  if  Richelieu  had  never  been  minis- 
ter, it  is  certain  that  France  would  soon  have  exerted 
an  influence  in  Europe  far  greater  than  that  of  the 
petrified  monarchy  of  Spain.  But  in  the  decline  of 
Spain  was  the  opportunity  of  France.  Richelieu 
comprehended  this,  and  Louis  XIV.  followed  in  his 
footsteps  until  led  astray  by  the  desire  of  seeing 
his  grandson  on  the  Spanish  throne.  Roussillon, 
Franche-Comt£,  and  most  of  the  Spanish  Nether- 
lands became  parts  of  France,  and  were  accessions 
of  great  importance. 

In  Germany,  the  Cardinal  adopted  the  policy 
most  advantageous  for  French  ambition.  It  was 
not  philanthropic,  it  was  not  based  on  any  theories 
of  the  brotherhood  of  man,  but,  if  France  was  to 
be  the  foremost  power  in  Europe,  it  was  not  the 
part  of  wisdom  to  build  up  a  united  Germany  as  a 
rival.  During  the  seventeenth  century,  there  was 
no  more  prospect  of  a  united  Germany  than  of  a 
united  Italy,  but  it  was  possible  that  Austria  might 
exercise  a  control  over  most  of  the  German  states 
as  effective  as  in  our  own  day  has  been  exercised  by 


346  Richelieu 

Prussia.  Richelieu  undertook  the  defence  of  the 
minor  German  princes  against  the  increasing  power 
of  the  Emperor,  and  French  statesmen  long  re- 
garded this  as  the  true  role  for  France  to  pursue. 
Its  success  was  assured  by  the  Treaty  of  Westphalia, 
which  secured  many  blessings  for  the  German 
people,  but  did  not  leave  Germany  in  a  condition 
where  it  could  be  a  dangerous  rival  to  French 
power.  Through  the  efforts  of  Mazarin,  the  League 
of  the  Rhine  was  formed,  under  the  protection  of 
France,  and  the  French  King  long  exercised  in 
Germany  an  influence  quite  equal  to  that  of  the 
Emperor  and  greater  than  that  of  any  other  German 
prince. 

Richelieu  showed  less  sagacity  in  his  dealings 
with  England.  In  this  he  resembled  many  French 
statesmen  before  and  since  his  day.  The  two 
nations  are  so  unlike  in  character,  in  situation,  in 
government,  that  it  has  been  difficult  for  them  to 
understand  each  other,  and  the  task  has  been  ren- 
dered no  easier  by  a  mutual  and  deep-seated  dislike. 
The  marriage  of  Louis's  sister  to  Charles  I.  was  re- 
garded as  one  of  the  achievements  of  Richelieu's 
early  career,  but  France  gained  nothing  by  the 
alliance.  The  Cardinal  strangely  misjudged  the 
English  people  of  that  period  when  he  hoped  that 
any  advantages  would  be  secured  for  English  Catho- 
lics by  this  marriage.  In  the  irritation  caused  by 
the  English  alliance  with  La  Rochelle,  we  find  him 
coquetting  with  Spain  and  planning  an  invasion  of 
England  which  should  restore  that  heretical  country 
to  the  Catholic  fold. 


Results  of  Richelieu  s  Administration      347 

Later,  he  seems  to  have  given  assistance  to  the 
Scotch  rebels.  In  this  indeed  he  only  followed  the 
recognised  usages  of  the  period ;  he  encouraged  in- 
ternal disturbances  in  England  in  the  same  manner 
that  the  Spanish  encouraged  the  Huguenots  when 
they  rebelled  against  Louis  XIII. 

Except  a  few  towns  along  the  Italian  frontier, 
nothing  was  actually  ceded  to  France  during  Riche- 
lieu's lifetime.  He  left  unfinished  the  great  wars  in 
which  France  had  become  involved,  but  most  of  the 
acquisitions  which  the  country  finally  gained  were 
practically  secured  before  Richelieu's  death. 

Both  Catalonia  and  Roussillon  were  held  by 
France  in  1642,  besides  important  cities  in  the 
Spanish  Low  Countries.  Spain  would  not  confess 
her  defeat  until  seventeen  years  after  Richelieu's 
death,  but  by  the  Peace  of  the  Pyrenees,  Roussil- 
lon, the  most  of  Artois,  and  parts  of  Hainault  and 
Luxembourg  were  ceded  to  the  French.  If  Riche- 
lieu had  lived,  it  is  probable  that  Catalonia  would 
also  be  French  soil,  but  the  insurrection  of  the 
Fronde  and  the  disloyal  conduct  of  the  Prince  of 
Cond£  cost  France  that  province;  Catalonia  was  re- 
turned to  Spain,  alike  to  the  grief  and  the  injury  of 
its  inhabitants,  and  the  Pyrenees  continued  to  divide 
the  two  countries. 

It  was  in  the  north  and  east  that  the  territories 
most  valuable  to  France  were  situated,  and  for  sixty 
years  the  French  boundaries  were  steadily  extended 
in  those  directions.  Alsace  was  closely  allied  with 
the  Empire  and  its  population  was  largely  German, 
but  Richelieu  contemplated  the  possibility  of  its 


348  Richelieu 

annexation,  and  his  counsels  were  not  lost  on  Ma- 
zarin.  By  the  Treaty  of  Westphalia  in  1648,  six 
years  after  Richelieu's  death,  this  province,  with 
some  reservations,  was  ceded  to  France.  It  was  an 
acquisition  of  vast  importance,  for  it  carried  the 
boundary  line  to  the  Rhine  and  strengthened  France 
where  she  was  most  exposed  to  invasion.  Between 
Spain  and  Italy  the  Pyrenees  and  the  Alps  were 
sufficient  boundaries,  and  seemed  to  be  the  line  of 
demarcation  fixed  by  nature.  At  the  east  no  such 
dividing  lines  were  placed.  Germany  was  the 
neighbour  from  which  France  had  most  to  fear,  and 
the  wavering  and  changing  boundaries  between 
the  two  countries  have  marked  the  fluctuations  of 
French  and  German  ascendancy.  Alsace  has  since 
become  a  part  of  the  German  Empire,  but  for  two 
centuries  it  added  to  the  strength  of  the  French 
kingdom. 

When  Richelieu  died,  Lorraine  was  in  the  posses- 
sion of  France,  and  the  Cardinal  regarded  the  acqui- 
sition of  that  province  as  practically  accomplished. 
The  French  held  it  for  more  than  twenty  years,  when 
it  was  again  surrendered  to  the  dukes  of  Lorraine. 
It  is  doubtful  if  the  Cardinal  would  have  approved 
such  a  step  or  have  consented  to  it.  It  was  not, 
however,  of  large  importance.  For  most  purposes, 
Lorraine  was  a  portion  of  France  for  a  century  be- 
fore its  formal  annexation.  After  the  acquisition  of 
Alsace,  French  territory  bounded  Lorraine  on  three 
sides;  even  the  most  unruly  of  dukes  could  with 
difficulty  assume  a  position  of  hostility  toward  a 
powerful  kingdom  into  which  his  own  territories 


Results  of  Richelieu  s  Administration      349 

were  wedged.  The  endeavour  was  indeed  made, 
and  it  resulted  in  the  French  holding  Lorraine 
during  a  considerable  part  of  the  reign  of  Louis 
XIV.,  while  its  dukes  wandered  about  Europe, 
taking  part  as  princely  condotticri  in  wars  to  which 
they  could  contribute  little  but  their  names  and 
their  ability  as  soldiers.  Though  Lorraine  did  not 
become  formally  a  part  of  France  until  1766,  prac- 
tically it  had  long  been  French. 

Thus  we  may  fairly  look  upon  Richelieu's  admin- 
istration as  the  beginning  of  the  hegemony  which 
France  exercised  over  Western  Europe  for  almost 
two  centuries.  Her  military  power  was  increased 
by  the  Revolution  and  by  the  genius  of  Napoleon, 
but  Richelieu  can  be  regarded  as  one  who  took 
part,  and  not  an  unimportant  part,  in  making 
France  the  great  military  power  of  Western  Europe. 
This  was  the  object  he  most  desired.  No  French 
statesman  before  him  had  so  clearly  marked  out 
this  policy,  and  none  after  him  pursued  a  more 
sagacious  course  in  order  to  accomplish  that  result. 

France  owed  much  to  the  adroitness,  the  good 
judgment,  and  the  unwearied  perseverance  of  Ma- 
zarin.  In  the  qualities  of  a  diplomat  he  was  not 
inferior  to  his  predecessor,  and  he  was  served  by  far 
abler  soldiers.  But  if  Richelieu  was  not  in  all  re- 
spects superior  to  Mazarin,  he  was  a  man  of  more 
original  mind,  as  well  as  of  more  commanding  char- 
acter, and  the  credit  of  shaping  the  policy  by  which 
France  became  the  first  of  European  powers,  must, 
in  large  degree,  be  awarded  to  the  iron  Cardinal. 

The  administration  of  Richelieu  was  not  a  period 


350  Richelieu 

of  general  prosperity.  Business  does  not  flourish 
nor  wealth  increase  during  a  season  of  almost  con- 
tinuous warfare;  the  wars  of  this  era  were  long  and 
costly,  and  a  heavy  drain  on  the  country's  resources. 
But  even  in  times  of  peace,  it  is  doubtful  if 
Richelieu  would  have  done  much  toward  enhancing 
national  well-being.  He  was,  indeed,  interested  in 
colonial  development,  in  the  growth  of  the  marine 
and  the  extension  of  commerce,  but  the  measures 
he  adopted  were  not  well  fitted  to  produce  the 
results  he  desired.  He  believed  in  governmental 
regulation  and  governmental  interference.  Trade 
flourishes  best  when  let  alone,  and  Richelieu  was 
unwilling  to  let  anything  alone.  Still,  he  did  gpod 
work  in  drawing  attention  to  the  importance  of 
colonial  development,  and  the  failure  of  France  as 
a  colonial  power  cannot  be  charged  to  him. 

While  the  condition  of  France  under  Richelieu 
was  far  better  than  during  the  period  of  disorder 
and  misrule  which  immediately  preceded  his  admin- 
istration, it  compared  less  favourably  with  the  con- 
ditions that  existed  under  Henry  IV.  Though  the 
aggregate  wealth  of  the  country  increased,  the  gen- 
eral prosperity  that  attended  the  wise  rule  of  the 
B£arnese  was  not  again  witnessed  in  France  until 
the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  excessive  cost  of  government,  aggravated  by 
an  oppressive  system  of  taxation,  kept  the  people 
poor.  The  Government  was  costly,  partly  as  a  re- 
sult of  extravagance  and  corrupt  administration, 
but  in  larger  degree  on  account  of  the  prevalence  of 
war.  Richelieu  was  minister  eighteen  years,  and 


Results  of  Richelieu's  Administration      351 

during  sixteen  years  of  that  time  the  country  was 
at  war  with  the  Huguenots,  or  with  foreign  states. 
During  the  eighteen  years  of  Mazarin's  administra- 
tion, peace  was  almost  unknown.  The  war  with 
Spain  began  long  before  he  became  minister,  and 
ended  only  a  little  more  than  a  year  before  his 
death,  and  during  five  years  of  his  administration 
the  evils  of  civil  war  still  further  aggravated  the 
situation.  After  Mazarin's  death  Louis  XIV.  as- 
sumed the  burdens  of  State,  and  the  country  was  at 
war  for  more  than  one-half  of  the  sixty-four  remain- 
ing years  of  his  reign.  During  the  century  follow- 
ing the  death  of  Henry  IV.  the  country  was  either 
engaged  in  hostilities  with  foreign  powers,  or  dis- 
tracted by  internal  insurrection  during  more  than 
seventy  years. 

The  population  increased  somewhat,  and  un- 
doubtedly the  nation's  resources  were  larger  at  the 
end  of  the  seventeenth  century  than  at  its  beginning, 
but  the  rapid  increase  of  wealth,  to  which  we  have 
become  accustomed  in  this  century,  was  then  un- 
known. Taxation  increased  out  of  proportion  to 
the  growth  of  national  wealth.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  under  Richelieu's  administration,  and 
during  the  closing  years  of  Louis  XIV. 's  reign,  the 
tax-gatherer  took  a  larger  percentage  of  the  nation's 
earnings  than  in  the  days  of  Henry  IV. 

It  is  desirable  that  comfort  should  be  generally 
diffused  and  that  wealth  should  increase,  yet  the 
accumulation  of  money  is  not  the  sole  object  of 
national,  any  more  than  of  individual  existence. 
Richelieu  had  other  ideals;  he  wished  France  to  be 


352 


Richelieu 


the  first  state  of  Europe,  he  desired  that  her  bound- 
aries should  grow  broader,  her  power  grow  greater, 
her  influence  become  larger.  He  wished  to  shape 
the  form  of  government  so  that  these  ends  might 
best  be  attained,  and  he  accomplished  the  object 
which  he  undertook.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the 
French  people  were  any  happier  at  the  end  of 
Richelieu's  administration  than  at  its  beginning, 
but,  beyond  question,  France  was  a  more  powerful 
state. 

THE   END 


MAP  Of 


:  ilANCE. 


INDEX 


Academy,  French,  its  organisa- 
tion, 311  ;  early  members.  313 

Aiguillon,  Duchess  of,  217,  219; 
lives  with  Richelieu,  322,  323 

Alchemy,  260 

Alsace  annexed  to  France,  347, 
348 

Ancre,  Marquis  of  ;  see  Concini. 

Army,  condition  of,  170,  236 ; 
suffering  in,  171 ;  number  of 
mercenaries,  171,  172,  237; 
size  of  the  army,  173,  237  ; 
pay  of  soldiers,  238  ;  nature 
of  the  service,  239,  240 

Arras,  city  of,  taken  by  the 
French,  181 

Austria,  Anne  of,  dislikes  Riche- 
lieu, 97 


B 


Ballets,  representations  of,  305- 

307 

Balzac,  313 

Bassompierre,  Marshal,  123 

Bavaria,  duchy  of,  devastated 
by  Gustavus.  164,  165 

Bordeaux,  Archbishop  of,  ad- 
miral, 169;  disgrace  of,  179 

Bouillon,  Duke  of,  52 ;  plots 
against  Richelieu,  199 ;  his 


arrest,  204 ;  surrenders  Sedan, 
2IO 

Bouteville,  Count  of,  executed 
for  duelling,  256 

Breitenfeld,  battle  of,  163,  215 

Breze,  Marquis  of,  326 

Briare,  canal  of,  258 

Buckingham,  Duke  of,  visits 
Paris,  89  ;  leads  an  expedition 
against  the  French,  90 ;  his 
defeat,  93  ;  his  murder,  101 


Canada,  227,  228 

Castlenaudary,  battle  of,  128 

Catalonia,  province  of,  revolts 
from  Spain,  178  ;  occupied  by 
the  French,  180  ;  restored  to 
Spain,  347 

Caussin,  Father.  King's  confes- 
sor, 139;  plots  against  Riche- 
lieu, 140  ;  is  dismissed.  140 

Chalais,  Count  of,  execution  of, 
118 

Charles  I.  of  England,  marries 
sister  of  Louis  XIII.,  88; 
wishes  to  relieve  I*.  Rochelle, 
IOI  ;  deserts  the  Huguenots, 
105 

Chateaux,  numbers  of.  II  ; 
changes  in,  12  ;  destroyed  by 
Richelieu,  13,  144 


353 


354 


Index 


Cinq-Mars,  Grand  Equerry, 
favourite  of  Louis  XIII.,  195  ; 
his  character,  196  ;  quarrels 
with  the  King,  197  ;  hostile  to 
Richelieu,  199,  202  ;  makes 
treaty  with  Spain,  200  ;  is 
arrested,  204 ;  tried,  207 ; 
executed,  209 

Clergy,  numbers  of,  9 ;  condi- 
tion of,  33  ;  employed  by 
Richelieu  in  the  army,  96, 
169  ;  choice  of  bishops,  271 

Colonies,  French,  227,  228,  230 

Concini,  Concino,  44  ;  his  wealth 
and  favour,  45  ;  his  treatment 
of  the  King,  54  ;  his  murder, 

55 

Concini,  Marechale  de  ;  see  Dori. 

Conde,  Prince  of,  38,  39 ;  his 
arrest,  47  ;  head  of  the  Govern- 
ment, 74  ;  marries  his  son  to 
Richelieu's  niece,  318 

Corneille,  Pierre,  310,  311 

Corruption,  frequency  of,  146, 
223 

D 

Descartes,  Rene,  314 

Dori,  Leonora,  favourite  of 
Mary  de'  Medici,  44  ;  marries 
Concini,  45  ;  trial  and  execu- 
tion of,  28,  57 

Duelling,  254-257 

Dupes,  Day  of,  1 20- 1 22 


E 


Edict  of  Restitution,  issued  by 
Ferdinand  II.,  159 

Education,  character  of,  24, 
243-246 

Enghien,  Duke  of,  marries  Rich- 
elieu's niece,  319 ;  quarrels 
with  Richelieu,  320 

England,    relations    of     France 

,  with,  88,  90,  105,  346,  347 

Epernon,  Duke  of,  67 


Ferdinand  II.,  Emperor,  157; 
crushes  out  heresy,  158  ;  his 
plans,  159  ;  dismisses  Wallen- 
stein,  160  ;  recalls  him,  164  ; 
his  death,  176 

Ferdinand  III.,  Emperor,  176 

Fontrailles,  Viscount  of,  199, 
200,  204 

France,  condition  of,  under 
Henry  IV.,  3,  233;  bound- 
aries of,  3 ;  population  of, 
4;  influence  of,  15,  335,  349, 
352;  administrative  system  of , 
33.  335  I  gains  of  in  the  Thirty 
Years'  War,  168  ;  size  of  army, 
173  ;  invasion  of,  174,  175  ; 
acquisitions  by,  182-184,  34 7~ 
349 ;  insurrections  in,  187  ; 
free  export  of  grain,  232  ; 
prosperity  in,  233 ;  paternal 
government  in,  234,  326  ;  edu- 
cation in,  243-246  ;  local  in- 
stitutions in,  340  ;  growth  of 
her  power,  343,  346,  347~349  : 
cost  of  government  in,  350  ; 
frequent  wars,  351 

Frederick,  Elector  Palatine, 
158-160 


Gallican  Church,  condition  of, 
268-270  ;  taxation  of,  275 

Game,  abundance  of,  4,  121 

Gaston,  brother  of  Louis  XIII., 
115  ;  plots  against  Richelieu, 
117,  193,  199;  marries  Mile, 
de  Montpensier,  117;  marries 
Margaret  of  Lorraine,  126 ; 
leads  an  insurrection,  126  ; 
flies  to  Brussels,  128  ;  betrays 
his  associates,  205-207 

Gazette,  first  French  newspaper, 

251 
Germany,  influence  of  France  in, 

345,  346 

Grandier,  Urbain,  executed  for 
witchcraft,  265,  266 


Index 


355 


Gregory  XIV.,  Pope,  makes 
Richelieu  cardinal,  72 

Grisons,  The,  alliance  with,  8l 

Guiton,  Jean,  mayor  of  La 
Rochelle,  100,  101 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  King  of 
Sweden,  161  ;  invades  Ger- 
many, 162 ;  his  victory  at 
Breitenfeld,  163  ;  his  death, 
166 

H 

Hautefort,  Mile,  de,  her  early 
life,  133  ;  favourite  of  Louis 
XIII.,  134,  194;  dislikes 
Richelieu,  135,  194  ;  loses  her 
favour,  136 

Henry  IV.,  his  administration, 
3;  influence  of,  15  ;  prosper- 
ity under,  233,  350 

Highways,  bad  condition  of,  7, 
10,  68 

Holland,  ally  of  France,  181  ; 
jealous  of  the  French,  182 ; 
makes  peace  with  Spain,  183 

Huguenots,  growth  of  their  party 
in  France,  82-84  :  their  as- 
semblies, 85  ;  are  unruly,  87  ; 
at  war  with  the  Government, 
93  ;  overthrow  of  the  party, 
106-108  ;  prosperity  of  the 
Huguenots,  108,  109 


I 


Intendants;  see  Superintendents. 
Italy,  relations  of  France  with, 
149.  150 


J 


Jansenius,  276,  277 

Joseph,  Father,  friend  of  Riche- 
lieu, 67  ;  endeavours  to  convert 
Huguenots,  107  ;  advises  Wal- 
lenstein's  dismissal,  161  ;  his- 
belief  in  visions,  261  ;  early 
life  of,  283  ;  becomes  a  monk, 


284  ;  organises  convent  of  the 
Calvary,  285  ;  preaches  a  cru- 
sade, 288-290  ;  follower  of 
Richelieu,  291  ;  lives  at  the 
Palais  Cardinal,  292  ;  his  ac- 
tivity, 293  ;  is  not  made  a 
cardinal,  294,  295  ;  his  death, 
296 

Judiciary,  influence  of  Richelieu 
upon,  341,  345 


Lafayette,  Mile,  de,  favourite  of 
Louis  XIII.,  136  ;  retires  to  a 
convent,  138  ;  her  influence 
on  the  King,  140 

Land,  value  of,  299 

Languedoc,  insurrection  in,  127 

La  Rochelle,  city  of,  87  ;  strength 
of  the  place,  94 ;  importance 
of,  95  ;  besieged  by  Richelieu, 
96  ;  progress  of  the  siege,  99- 
101  ;  suffering  in,  102 ;  sur- 
render of,  103 

La  Vieuville,  superintendent  of 
finance,  74  ;  is  disgraced,  75 

Lorraine,  Duke  Charles  of,  153, 

154 

Lorraine,  province  of,  its  rela- 
tions with  France,  152,  153; 
occupied  by  the  French,  154; 
restored  to  its  former  rulers, 
155;  practically  a  part  of 
France,  348,  349 

Louis  XIII.,  unpromising  boy, 
16  ;  his  poor  education,  53  ; 
fondness  lor  hunting,  53  ;  jeal- 
ous of  Concini,  54 ;  plots  to 
murder  Concini,  54  ;  approves 
of  the  murder,  56  ;  indifferent 
to  his  mother,  59  ;  commends 
Richelieu's  retirement,  63  ; 
dislikes  Richelieu,  74;  his 
character,  76  ;  supports  Riche- 
lieu in  office,  77,  98  ;  »  good 
soldier,  71,  104  ;  his  relations 
with  Richelieu,  112  ;  infirm 
health.  118;  promises  to  dis- 
miss Richelieu,  119;  restores 


356 


Index 


Louis  XIII.  —  Continued. 

Richelieu  to  favour,  122  ;  dis- 
likes his  wife,  131,  132  ;  his 
fondness  for  Mile,  de  Haute- 
fort,  133 ;  his  fondness  for 
Mile,  de  Lafayette,  136 ;  al- 
lows her  to  retire,  138  ;  his  re- 
lations with  his  confessor,  139- 
141  ;  complains  of  condition 
of  soldiers,  171  ;  impatient  of 
disaster,  175  ;  his  relations 
with  Cinq-Mars,  195,  207 ; 
visits  Richelieu,  206,  212,  216  ; 
yields  to  Richelieu's  demands, 
214 ;  writes  for  the  Gazette, 
252  ;  dedicates  France  to  the 
Virgin,  262  ;  freedom  in  ad- 
dressing him,  316  ;  asserts  his 
authority  to  be  absolute,  337 

Louis  XIV.,  bigotry  of,  109, 
no 

Lu9on,  bishopric  of,  belongs  to 
the  Richelieus,  25  ;  litigation 
over  its  income,  26  ;  Richelieu 
bishop  of,  28-30  ;  poverty  of, 
31  ;  sale  of,  281 

Luines,  Constable,  becomes 
King's  falconer,  53 ;  negoti- 
ates with  Richelieu,  55  ;  his 
favour  with  the  King,  58  ;  ad- 
vises Richelieu's  recall,  67  ; 
unfriendly  to  Richelieu,  70  ; 
poor  soldier,  71  ;  his  death,  71 

Ltttzen,  battle  of,  166 

M 

Magdeburg,  destruction  of,  163 

Maille,  Armand  de,  heir  of 
Richelieu,  219 

Mails,  carriage  of,  257,  258 

Mantua,  duchy  of,  104 

Marillac,  Guard  of  the  Seals, 
120  ;  his  overthrow,  122 

Marillac,  Marshal,  120  ;  his  exe- 
cution, 122,  343 

Mazarin,  Cardinal,  150 ;  fa- 
voured by  Richelieu,  151,  152  ; 
is  made  a  cardinal,  296  ;  exe- 
cutes commissions  for  Riche- 


lieu, 306  ;  continues  his  policy, 
152,  349 

Mazarin,  Duke  of,  327,  328 
Medici,  Mary  de',  becomes  re- 
gent, 16  ;  her  character,  36  ; 
weakness  of  her  Government, 
38,  39  ;  retires  from  the  Court, 
59  ;  complains  of  Richelieu's 
banishment,  63  ;  escapes  from 
Blois,  67  ;  relations  with  the 
King,  68  ;  asks  Richelieu's 
promotion,  69,  72  ;  becomes 
hostile  to  Richelieu,  97,  114  ; 
demands  Richelieu's  dismissal, 
1 20  ;  exultation  of  her  follow- 
ers, 122  ;  she  leaves  France, 

123  ;  her  hatred  of  Richelieu, 

124  ;  her  death,  125 
Mende,  Bishop  of,  92,  96 
Michau,  Code,  148 
Mirame,  play  of,  306,  307 
Monasteries,  condition   of,  269, 

270,  285,  286 
Montmorenci,  Duke  of,  joins  in 

insurrection,  127  ;  is  defeated, 

128  ;    his   eminence,    129 ;    is 

executed,  130 
Montpensier,  Mile,  de,  117 


N 


Nancy,  surrendered  to  the 
French,  154 

Nantes,  Edict  of,  84  ;  confirmed 
by  Richelieu,  108 

Navarre,  College  of,  24 

Navy,  weakness  of,  91,  180 ; 
strengthened  by  Richelieu, 
226,  227 

Nevers,  Duke  of,  46,  52 ;  in- 
herits Mantua,  104  ;  embarks 
on  a  crusade,  290 

Newspapers,  251,  252 

Nobility,  power  of,  13,  14; 
many  of  them  Huguenots,  83  ; 
marriages  with  heiresses,  147  ; 
are  unruly,  334 

Normandy,  province  of,  insur- 
rection in,  189-191 

Notables,  assemblies  of,  143 


Index 


357 


o 

Olivarez,  Count  of,  178,  200 
Orleans,  Antoinette  of,  286 
Ornano,  Marshal,  117,  118 
Oxenstierna,  Chancellor,  167 


Palais  Cardinal,  given  to  Louis 
XIII.,  220,  300;  its  site,  298, 
299 ;  a  literary  centre,  307, 

315 

Paris,  growth  of,  6 ;  its  filthy 
condition,  7 ;  frequency  of 
robberies  in,  8  ;  bigotry  of  the 
people,  9  ;  in  danger  of  cap- 
ture, 174  ;  patriotism  of,  175  ; 
value  of  land,  298,  299 

Parliaments,  their  belief  in 
witchcraft,  267,  268 ;  oppose 
organisation  of  Academy,  312 

Pascal,  Jacqueline,  307 

Patriarchate  in  France,  rumours 
of,  273,  274 

Paul  V.,  grants  Richelieu  dis- 
pensation, 28 

Peasants,  poverty  of,  5  ;  taxation 
of,  188  ;  revolts  of,  188-191 

Pirates,  226,  227 

Pius  V.,  approves  of  crusade, 
289 

Poitou,  condition  of,  23,  30 

Porte,  Susanne  de  la,  Richelieu's 
mother,  20 

Portugal,  throws  off  Spanish 
rule,  177 

Postage,  cost  of,  258 


R 


Rambouillet,    Hotel,    298,    299, 

315 

Rambouillet,  Mme.  de,  298 
Re,  island  of,  90-92 
Renaudot,    Theophraste,     251- 

253 

Richelieu,  Cardinal,  his  charac- 
ter, I,  2,  329  ;  orders  fortified 


castles  destroyed,  12,  144 ; 
family  of,  17-21  ;  his  birth,  20  ; 
youth  of,  23  ;  education,  24 ; 
decides  to  be  a  priest,  25  ; 
appointed  bishop,  28 ;  visits 
Rome,  28  ;  studies  at  the  Sor- 
bonne,  29  ;  enters  his  bishop- 
ric, 30 ;  complains  of  its 
poverty,  31  ;  his  sermons,  32; 
his  theological  writings,  33, 
34,  65  ;  superstitions  of,  33, 
260,  261  ;  desires  office,  35  ;  his 
address  to  the  Queen-mother, 
37  ;  is  elected  to  the  States- 
General,  40  ;  his  speech  for 
the  clergy,  41  ;  remains  at 
Paris,  43  ;  his  ingratitude,  44, 
124;  a  follower  of  Con- 
cini,  46 ;  is  appointed  secre- 
tary of  state,  48 ;  criticisms 
on  his  appointment,  49 ;  his 
conduct  as  minister,  50 ;  in- 
structions to  ambassadors,  51  ; 
is  minister  of  war,  52  ;  is  dis- 
missed from  office,  56  ;  leaves 
the  Court,  60  ;  little  known, 
61  ;  chief  of  the  Queen's  coun- 
cil, 62  ;  retires  to  I.u9on,  63  ; 
banished  to  Avignon,  64  ;  re- 
called to  the  Queen-mother, 
68  ;  nominated  cardinal,  69  ; 
made  cardinal,  72;  chief 
adviser  of  Queen,  73  ;  be- 
comes minister  of  the  King, 
75 ;  his  relations  with  the 
King,  76,  78,  203-206,  214, 
330  ;  his  policy,  79-82  ;  makes 
peace  with  the  Huguenots, 
87  ;  collects  an  army  against 
Buckingham,  90  ;  besieges  La 
Rochelle,  93-96;  enters 
La  Rochelle,  103  ;  his  cam- 
paign in  Italy,  104  ;  destroys 
fortifications  of  Protestant 
towns,  106  ;  his  treatment  of 
the  Huguenots,  108,  109  ;  his 
triumphant  return,  in  ;  his 
advice  to  the  King,  112-114  ; 
his  skill  in  intrigue,  115  :  his 
courage,  116,  175;  plots 


358 


Index 


Richelieu,  Cardinal  —  Confd. 
against  him,  117,  119;  defeats 
his, enemies,  122;  spies  in  his 
employ,  125,  137,  194 ;  dis- 
liked by  women,  131;  dis- 
misses Father  Caussin,  140 ;  his 
activity,  142 ;  summons  as- 
semblies of  notables,  143 ; 
poor  financier,  144,  187  ;  pro- 
ceeds against  the  farmers  of 
taxes,  147  ;  his  Italian  policy, 
150 ;  his  opinion  of  Mazarin, 
150,  151  ;  treatment  of  Lor- 
raine, 153-155  ;  his  foreign 
policy,  155,  343-349  ;  opposi- 
tion to  Ferdinand  II.,  159, 
1 60  ;  makes  an  alliance  with 
Gustavus,  162,  163  ;  relations 
with  Gustavus,  166  ;  fond  of 
priests  as  soldiers,  169; 
employs  mercenaries,  171  ;  his 
tenacity  of  purpose,  173; 
punishes  the  Archbishop  of 
Bordeaux,  179  ;  his  plans  in 
the  Low  Countries,  181  ; 
instructions  to  the  army,  185  ; 
punishes  insurrection,  191, 
192  ;  in  danger  of  assassina- 
tion, 193  ;  his  relations  with 
Cinq-Mars,  195-199 ;  his  ill- 
ness, 201  ;  his  severity,  208- 
210;  returns  to  Paris,  211; 
his  industry,  211  ;  purchases 
books,  214 ;  his  last  illness, 
216 ;  his  death,  217;  funeral, 
218  ;  hated  by  the  public, 

218,  219,    332;     his    will, 

219,  220;    his    wealth,    221, 
222  ;    strengthens    the    navy, 
226  ;  encourages  colonisation, 
227;  believes  in  monopoly,  229; 
and  in  paternal   government, 
233-235;  strengthens  the 
army,  236,  241 ;  his  political 
views,    242 ;     disapproves    of 
general    education,    243 ;    in- 
creases   power    of    superin- 
tendents,   247,    250 ;  controls 
newspapers,  253  ;  opposed  to 
duelling,  256  ;  a  strong  Catho- 


1  i  c,  260  ;  his  treatment  of 
witchcraft,  264,  266,  267 ; 
holds  many  livings,  269 ;  im- 
proves condition  of  monas- 
teries, 269-270 ;  and  of  the 
episcopate,  261  ;  seeks  to  be 
archbishop  of  Treves,  271, 
272  ;  wishes  to  be  papal  legate, 
273 ;  quarrel  with  the  Pope, 
274 ;  a  n  d  with  the  clergy, 
275 ;  hostile  to  Jansenism, 
276,  278;  imprisons  St. 
Cyran,  278  ;  sells  his  bishop- 
ric, 280,  281  ;  buys  cardinals, 
282  ;  his  relations  with  Father 
Joseph,  282,  287,  291,  293, 
294  ;  taste  for  building,  297  ; 
erects  Palais  Cardinal,  298- 
300 ;  builds  church  of  Sor- 
bonne,  301  ;  his  occupations, 
302-304 ;  treatment  of  serv- 
ants, 304 ;  fetes  given  by 
him,  305-307 ;  his  taste  for 
literature,  308  ;  political  testa- 
ment, 309 ;  poets  in  his 
employ,  310 ;  organises  the 
Academy,  311  ;  his  influence 
on  literature,  314  ;  friendly  to 
authors,  317  ;  marriage  of  his 
niece,  318;  quarrels  with 
Enghien,  320 ;  his  family, 
321-328  ;  resembles  Pitt,  330; 
permanence  of  his  work,  333, 
335,  339  I  secures  order,  334  ; 
distrusts  popular  opinion,  337  ; 
influence  on  administration  of 
justice,  341 

Richelieu,  Alphonse  de,  brother 
of  the  Cardinal,  26  ;  does  not 
want  to  be  bishop,  27 ;  his 
career,  321,  322 

Richelieu,  chateau  of,  17,  21, 
22,  297 

Richelieu,  Henri  de,  brother  of 
the  Cardinal,  320,  321 

Richelieu,  Marshal,  327 

Rohan,  Duchess  of,  100 

Rohan,  Duke  of,  commands  the 
Protestants,  105 

Rouen,  city  of,  190,  191 


Index 


359 


Roussillon,  province  of,  revolts 
from  Spain,  178 ;  becomes 
French,  180 

Rueil,  chateau  of,  300 

Russia,  treaty  with,  231 


St.  Cyran,  Abbe  of,  friendly  to 
Richelieu,  277  ;  is  imprisoned, 
278  ;  is  liberated,  279 

St.  Simon,  Duke  of,  121,  136 

Savoy,  allied  with  France,  215 

Sedan,  becomes  a  part  of  France, 
210 

Sirmond,  Father,  confessor  of 
Louis  XIII.,  141 

Slavery,  229 

Soissons,  Count  of,  insurrection 
of,  191,  192 

Sorbonne,  church  of,  burial 
place  of  Richelieu,  218  ;  build- 
ings erected  by  Richelieu, 
301 

Spain,  sends  fleet  to  assist 
French,  91  ;  her  army  invades 
France,  174;  bad  government 
of,  177,  178 ;  makes  peace 
with  Holland,  182,  183  ;  makes 
treaty  with  Cinq-Mars,  200 

Spinosa,  Marquis  of,  91 

States-General,    session  of,    14 
session   of   in    1614,    39,   40 
close  of  the  session,  42,  43 
demands  of,    336 ;  distrusted 
by  Richelieu,  336 

Superintendents,  power  of,  246- 
250 

Sweden,  161  ;  her  army,  162- 
165 


Taille,  145,  147  ;  amount  of,  188 
Taxation,  severity  of,  6  ;  charac- 
ter of,   144,   145  ;  amount  of, 
187,  188  ;  of  clergy,  275 
Taxes,  farmers  of,  145,  146 
Thieves,  great  numbers  of,  8 
Thirty   Years'   War,    157,    158, 

183 
Thou,    Francois  de,    his  arrest, 

204  ;  his  execution,  209 
Tobacco,  use  of,  230 
Travel,  small  amount  of,  10 


U 


Urban  VIII.,  opinion  of  Riche- 
lieu, 218 ;  opposes  Richelieu, 
272,  274 


Valtelline,  the,  war  in,  8l 
Versailles,  a  small  hunting  lodge, 

121 
Vignerot,    Armand   de,   heir  of 

Richelieu,  219,  325,  327 
Vitry,  Marshal,  55,  56 
Voiture,  313,  315,  316 

w 

Wallenstein,  Duke  of,    159  ;  his 
cruelty,    160 ;    is    dismissed, 
161  ;   is    recalled,     164;    his 
conduct,  165  ;  his  treasonable 
plots,  167  ;  is  murdered,  168 
Weimar,  Bernard,  Duke  of,  170 
Westphalia,  treaty  of,    183,  184 
Witchcraft,  belief  in,  264-268 


•O- 


o,  pro- 
rding  to 
The 


6s. 


a 

vie 

gen, 

creast. 

tendents, 

newspaper;, 

duelling,  256 


Heroes  of  the  Nations. 


EDITED  BY 


EVELYN  ABBOTT,  M.A., 
FELLOW  OK  BALLIOL  COLLEGE,  OXFORD. 


A  SERIES  of  biographical  studies  of  the  lives  and  work 
of  a  number  of  representative  historical  characters  about 
whom  have  gathered  the  great  traditions  of  the  Nations 
to  which  they  belonged,  and  who  have  been  accepted,  in 
many  instances,  as  types  of  the  several  National  ideals. 
'With  the  life  of  each  typical  character  will  be  presented 
a  picture  of  the  National  conditions  surrounding  him 
during  his  career. 

The  narratives  are  the  work  of  writers  who  are  recog- 
nized authorities  on  their  several  subjects,  and,  while 
thoroughly  trustworthy  as  history,  will  present  picturesque 
and  dramatic  "  stories  "  of  the  Men  and  of  the  events  con- 
nected with  them. 

To  the  Life  of  each  "  Hero  "  will  be  given  one  duo- 
decimo volume,  handsomely  printed  in  large  type,  pro- 
vided with  maps  and  adequately  illustrated  according  to 
the  special  requirements  of  the  several  subjects.  The 
volumes  will  be  sold  separately  as  follows  : 

Cloth  extra $s. 

Roxburgh,  uncut  edges,  gilt  top      .        ...         6s. 


HEROES   OF   THE  NATIONS. 


A  series  of  biographical  studies  of  the  lives  and  work  of 
certain  representative  historical  characters,  about  whom  have 
gathered  the  great  traditions  of  the  Nations  to  which  they 
belonged,  and  who  have  been  accepted,  in  many  instances,  as 
types  of  the  several  National  ideals. 

The  volumes  will  be  sold  separately  as  follows  :  cloth  extra, 
5-y.  ;  Roxburgh,  uncut  edges,  gilt  top,  6s. 

The  following  are  now  ready  : 


NELSON.     By  W.  Clark  Russell. 

GUSTAVUS  ADOLPHUS.  By  C. 
R.  L.  Fletcher. 

PERICLES.     By  Evelyn  Abbott. 

THEODORIC  THE  GOTH.  By 
Thomas  Hodgkin. 

SIR  PHILIP  SIDNEY.  By.  H.  R. 
Fox-Bourne. 

JULIUS  C/ESAR.  By  W.  Warde 
Fowler. 

WYCLIF.     By  Lewis  Sergeant. 

NAPOLEON.  By  W.  O'Connor  Mor- 
ris. 

HENRY  OF  NAVARRE.  By  P.  F. 
Willert. 

CICERO.  By  J.  L.  Strachan-David- 
son. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  By  Noah 
Brooks. 

PRINCE  HENRY  (OF  PORTUGAL) 
THE  NAVIGATOR.  By  C.  R. 
Beazley. 

JULIAN  THE  PHILOSOPHER. 
By  Alice  Gardner. 

LOUIS  XIV.     By  Arthur  Hassall. 

CHARLES  XII.     By  R.  Nisbet  Bain. 

LORENZO  DE'  MEDICI.  By  Ed- 
ward Armstrong. 


JEANNE  D'ARC.    By  Mrs.  Oliphant. 
CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS.      By 

'Washington  Irving. 
ROBERT     THE    BRUCE.       By    Sir 

Herbert  Maxwell. 

HANNIBAL.    By  W.  O'Connor  Mor- 
ris. 
ULYSSES  S.  GRANT.      By  William 

Conant  Church. 
ROBERT  E.  LEE.     By  Henry  Alex- 

ander  White. 
THE    CID    CAMPEADOR.      By   H. 

Butler  Clarke. 

SAL  A  DIN.     By  Stanley  Lane-Poole. 
BISMARCK.     By  J.  W.  Headlam. 
ALEXANDER    THE    GREAT.      By 

Benjamin  I.  Wheeler. 
CHARLEMAGJNE.       By    H.    W.   C. 

Davis. 
OLIVER  CROMWELL.    By  Charles 

Firth. 

RICHELIEU.    By  James  B.  Perkins. 
DANIEL  O'CONNELL.     By  Robert 

Dunlop. 
SAINT  LOUIS(Louis  IX.,  of  France). 

By  Frederick  Perry. 
LORD    CHATHAM.         By    Walford 

Davis  Green. 


Other  volumes  in  preparation  are  : 


MOLTKE.    By  Spencer  Wilkinson. 

JUDAS  MACCABEUS.  By  Israel 
Abrahams. 

HENRY  V.  By  Charles  L.  Kings- 
ford. 

SOBIESKI.     By  F.  A.  Pollard. 

ALFRED  THE  TRUTHTELLER. 
By  Frederick  Perry. 


FREDERICK  II.     By  A.  L.  Smith. 
MARLBOROUGH.       By    C.    W.    C. 

Oman. 
RICHARD  THE  LION-HEARTED. 

By  T.  A.  Archer. 
•WILLIAM  THE  SILENT.    By  Ruth 

Putnam. 
JUSTINIAN.     By  Edward  Jenks. 

_  \ 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS,  PUBLISHERS,  NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON. 


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